


Little Bird

by wimsicalpan



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Character Death, Comfort, Coping Mechanisms, Death, F/M, Family, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Hurt, OC Team, OC/OC - Freeform, Pain, Qrows a little shit at times, Stern Summer, Team MYRTle, Violence, qrow struggles, self blame, snapshots of life first then more story later, will follow Robin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2019-06-07 09:25:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 40
Words: 70,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15216140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wimsicalpan/pseuds/wimsicalpan
Summary: "Deal with what?" He started to lift the glass to his lips, rust eyes focused on her agitated state.She tipped her head to one side, glanced over Qrow's shoulder and straightened up, looking back at him. "Your daughter."He paused and stared at her. "My what?"She rolled her eyes at him and stood up, palms flat on the bar. "Your daughter, Qrow. Your little girl. Genetic offspring. Mini me. Spawn. However you wanna call it, my daughter is your daughter."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it's a daughter fic. But I hope you enjoy it anyway.
> 
> (Tags will update as the story progresses)

Qrow stepped into 'Oasis', one of the few well maintained Inn's in Vacuo and one of his favourite pit stops if he were passing through. It was barely two in the afternoon and already the Inn's bar room seemed half full. The air was warm and alluring, a nice contrast to the sharp wind outside that was starting to pick up. He knew there was supposed to be a sandstorm passing through soon but he'd hoped he'd avoided it by a few days.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and trudged towards the bar, one brow raised. The only reason he'd taken a little – which wasn't very little – detour from going home after his latest mission for Ozpin, was because Leona had called him and said that they needed to talk.

Leona was the owner of 'Oasis', a fiery blonde with bright green eyes who could make any huntsman quiver with one glare. And she knew just what Qrow liked. In the few times he'd passed through she'd batted her eyelashes and flirted with him, filling his drink up before it became empty with a purr. And every time he was a sucker for those soft lips of hers. Every. Time. The only reason she'd had his number in the first place was because she'd told him to let her know when he was passing by and she'd leave him a room free.

This last message had eluded to none of their previous encounters. Even when Qrow joked "Having dreams about me?" she'd ignored it, which caused the furrow in his brows. Sure, it had been a few years since they'd physically met, but he'd at least had one or two phone calls that kept him up late. Not that he was complaining.

And the best thing was that she never wanted anything serious. He'd brought that up on the second phone call:

_"You know I'm a Huntsman right? Always on the move, coming and goin-"_

_"I know. I don't want anything. Just tonight. A woman has needs too you know."_

_"Am I the only one?"_

_There had been a pause. "Nah there's a guy called Felix. Pretty regular. Drops by once a month and he's pretty great."_

_"Who's better?"_

_"I am not answering that!"_

_"Why not? I won't tell."_

_A frustrated sigh. "You, are far too practised in the art of sex. You know that right?"_

Qrow was brought back to the present by a hand on his arm. He looked down to see Leona smiling softly up at him. "It's good to see you, Qrow."

"You breaking up with me?" he smirked, instinct pulling out the jokes.

She rolled her eyes at him with a small smile of her own and started towards the bar. Qrow quickly fell in step behind her, scratching his brain to why she could possibly want to talk to him. Almost as soon as he took a seat at a barstool there was a serving of whiskey in front of him and he took it with a raised brow, a silent question to what he was doing here.

Leona let out a small sigh and clasped her hands on the bar top. Her eyes were focused on her hands as she started, "Well, I've been thinking that you deserve to know. Even if you don't want to be here or help or whatever, that's fine. I'm not asking you to do anything you don't want to. And I’m not demanding anything. I just, want you to know. And to tell me how you want to deal with this."

She flicked her eyes up to him and he furrowed his brows deeply. "Deal with what?" He started to lift the glass to his lips, rust eyes focused on her agitated state.

She tipped her head to one side, glanced over Qrow's shoulder and straightened up, looking back at him. "Your daughter."

He paused and stared at her. "My what?"

She rolled her eyes at him and stood up, palms flat on the bar. "Your daughter, Qrow. Your little girl. Genetic offspring. Mini me. Spawn. However you wanna call it, my daughter is your daughter."

He hadn't moved, just stared. And stared. His heart pumping wildly in his chest. Daughter? Kid? Child? Him? "When?" He finally set the glass back down.

"She's two and a half."

Now he narrowed his eyes carefully. "And she's definitely mine? Not Felix's?"

Leona sighed and stood up on her tip toes. "Robin!"

He almost choked on his drink, "You named her Robin?"

She shrugged, "It just seemed right."

Then there was the sound of little feet walking past him and Qrow ducked his head to follow a head full of black hair. Which didn't prove anything. A lot of people had black hair, didn't mean she was his. The girl disappeared behind the bar and Leona bent down to pick up a child. When she came back up Qrow’s heart physically stopped for a second and he stared.

She looked exactly like Raven.

She was definitely his.

"Shit," he hissed.

"Qrow!"

"Sheet!" Robin's little voice chimed with a smile.

"No," Leona said, turning her attention to Robin, "That's a bad word." The smile fell from Robin's face and she pointed towards Qrow with a small ‘But-’ "I know he said the bad word but he's going to get in trouble. Do. Not. Say. That. Again. Understood."

"Yea," she mumbled quietly.

Leona glanced back at Qrow, "She's at that age where she repeats everything she hears. I can't tell you how many times I've had to threaten castration with the poker table." She looked back down towards Robin. "Are you behaving for the boys?"

Robin nodded her head enthusiastically, bright red eyes beaming with the smile that was back on her face. "Yeah. De- to- me -ow to -ay."

"Did they now?"

"I eel goo-."

"Okay. You tell them I'm watching them. No funny business."

"No foo-knee busie-ess."

Leona laughed, "Yeah." She set Robin down again and the toddler waddled away. Qrow watched her with raised brows as she waddled back towards a large table that was surrounded by 6 gentleman, half of which looked like they could squash her with one look. She tugged at the closest arm, pointed a finger up when she had their attention and almost shouted, "No foo-knee busie-ess!"

The guy held his hands up and nodded his head, "Yes little lady. You coming back up?"

"Yeah!" He hefted her up and into an empty chair that was pulled tightly up towards the table.

"Well?" Leona's voice dragged him back to her.

He studied her face for a moment and the heavy beating of his heart. "Well she's definitely mine."

"No shit."

"Hey, that's a bad word.," he mocked, a smirk catching the corner of his lips as he pointed at her.

She swatted his finger away from her and folded her arms on the bar. "That's not what I meant."

Qrow's smile faded and he glanced back to the table. "Honestly? She's cute. I mean, she has my genes of course she's cute." He looked back to Leona and couldn't help the sigh and the nervous scratch to the back of his neck. "I don't know. I- I’ve never even thought about having kids."

She shrugged a shoulder and straightened up, "I'm not looking for an answer today, but the invitation is there. If you want to be a part of her life, that's fine. If you don't, I understand. She wasn't exactly planned."

Qrow watched Leona step over towards the booking desk as a small group hurried inside, seeking shelter from the wind that knocked on the doors. The storms in Vacuo were known to either last an hour or days. There was never any in between and Qrow tipped his head back as he finally polished off the whiskey Leona had poured him.

He settled the empty glass down with a sigh and glanced back to the 'poker table'. Robin was shifting in her seat from one knee to the next, arms pulled up onto the table top. She was pointing to somebody's cards as he held them out for her to see. She pointed to one in the middle and tried to tug it free but he drew them back and handed her the card that she'd wanted, keeping the rest of his cards intact. "Win?" Robin said as she placed the card on the table.

There were chuckles around the table and another guy leaned forward to say, "Not quite little missy, but you almost had us."

"Awww, I wa- win."

"We'll win," her card partner said and Qrow couldn't help the tiny flicker of a smile. He didn't even think they were playing poker any more and he glanced back over to Leona. She was giving him an out, a chance to say no. And she certainly didn't need his help in raising their daughter. It was weird to think that he had a kid, but he could choose; help, or stay away.

He fixed his gaze on the bar top, unsure of what he wanted to do. Back in Patch, Raven was due to give birth to Yang in a couple of months and Tai was a nervous wreck. Summer was always away on missions, just like him, trying to keep up their jobs and their sanity from their hormonal or over cautious team mates. There was a big difference between Uncle and Father. A big one. One he wasn't sure he was ready for.

Qrow glanced up to the barmaid and ordered another shot of whiskey. He sipped it this time, and another one appeared before he had chance to finish it. He polished it off and turned to his third drink. A kid. He had a kid. His own flesh and blood. He put a fist on the table and let his head rest on it, his mind thinking over all the reasons he should stay in Robin’s life and all the reasons he shouldn’t.

He was a Hunter. Every job had the potential to be his last. Not to mention his stupid semblance. As if on cue somebody knocked a glass off of a table with a shocked apology.

But then he would never get this opportunity again.

But he couldn’t just up and leave Patch and make a life in Vacuo. What about Raven? Tai? Summer? They were his family too. Could he really leave them?

He sighed and lifted his head up to look back to the table that Robin sat at. She was babbling away in her own little word, half her words incomprehensible as she moved cards around the table in front of her. And he couldn't stop the tiny flicker of a smile to his face.

"I always did like your smile."

He turned to look back to Leona and raised a brow. "Falling for me again?"

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Only in your dreams, Branwen."

He grinned back and slowly let out a slow breath. He grabbed the glass, his eyes fixed on the amber liquid inside and furrowed his brows. "Leona, I want to, honestly I do. It's just-"

"She'll understand."

He stared. "What?"

Leona smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Half of the people that pass through here either have stories about Grimm or are Hunters. She knows about them, what they do and the big scary world outside those doors. She understands, hell half of those guys at the poker table have only just gotten back after a month, two months being away." A small crease appeared in the centre of her forehead. "That is where you were going right? Hunter? Jobs? A team or family? Something something?"

"And what if I can only visit once a month? Or every four months? Or once a year?"

She shrugged, "Then you have my number."

He stared up at her, the frown never budging from his face. He could not imagine any child being content with speaking to their parent through a screen every other week. There was a shout of childish laughter and he glanced back to the poker table. Robin was holding a card over her head with a wide grin and another round of laughter escaping her lips. Then again, not many children would be so relaxed in seeing strangers come in and out of their second home on a day to day basis.

Finally he released another sigh and turned his head to look back at Leona. “Fine. But if I mess this up, it’s your fault.”


	2. Chapter 2

“ _I wost Teddy. Den he was in my bed and- I showeded it to Mommy and she said I weft him. But, but I don’t wose him.”_

Qrow chuckled as he sat on the porch steps of Tai’s cabin. It was a clear sky, a nice change from the cloudy rain storm Patch had been having the past couple of days. Yang had only just been settled for the night, exhausting both Tai and Raven. Summer was busy cleaning up the place for the day, doing the newly proclaimed parents a favour and Qrow had stolen this moment of calm to accept the incoming call. “Is that so, Little Bird?”

There was a loud yawn before Robin carried on. _“Jacksuun said th- I’m get on good a -oke-a.”_

“Sounds to me like somebody’s ready for bed.”

“ _Not tired!”_

Qrow chuckled. It had been six months since he’d agreed to be a part of Robin’s life. Six months of nothing but calls here and there. They’d been formally introduced the night that he’d agreed with Leona to be there for Robin. To say that the girl had fallen in tune with the story, as if it was the most perfectly normal thing to learn who your father was, was an understatement. She’d climbed into his lap and started prodding him with questions about where he lived, that his eyes were the same as hers and about how if he read her bed time stories, he had to do the voices. At least, that’s what Leona had translated it all into. Child speak was still new to him and he was still learning. He was sure there was something about birds in there too, although that was one thing Leona had been vague about.

Yang had come into the picture just two months ago and it was only then did he share his secret daughter with the rest of team STRQ. Summer had squealed, latching her arms around his neck to squeeze the life out of him, rambling on about play dates, more mini children. Then had come the questions that he’d tried to brush off. Raven had raised a brow, the corner of her lip twitching into a smirk. He narrowed his eyes at that and couldn’t help the slight jump from Tai’s hand slapping his back. “Can’t believe you beat me to it!”

“Not like he planned it,” Raven had quipped.

Summer had waved her hands, “Details don’t matter. The important thing is that Qrow’s finally started smiling again.”

“She’s got a point,” Tai had interjected. “It does explain this new you.”

“What new me? I haven’t changed.”

Raven was next, “That’s what you think.”

“ _Dad! I can cownt to, erm, t- t- twe- twelf! And,”_ she yawned, “ _and, and, I-”_ another yawn.

“Tell you what,” Qrow muttered, “how about you go to bed.” She whined with a low _Buuuut_ and he raised his hand, mentally waving her off with a smile, “And you can call me first thing. After breakfast of course, and tell me everything.”

There was silence on the other end of the line and he pursed his lips with a raised brow. It sounded like she was doing some deep thinking, as much as a three year old could. _“If I go bed now, then I ca- get up ew-e-er and talk more. Okay!”_

He had to pull the scroll away at the high pitched, chipper finish to her thought. “So it’s a deal?”

“ _Deal!”_

He couldn’t help the small chuckle and nodded his head. “Night, Robin. Put your Mom on for me.”

“ _Okay! Night, night! Mom!”_

“ _Thanks honey. Need me to tuck you in?”_

“ _No. I got it! Bye!”_

“ _Bye.”_ There was the sound of a door being gently closed and Leona was on the line. _“Hey, Qrow. Sorry if she kept you up.”_

He waved his hand again. “Don’t sweat it.”

Leona let out a small breath and he heard her shuffle towards her own bedroom. _“How are the new parents? Raven and… Tai? Right?”_

“Exhausted. I think Tai collapsed on the couch and Raven at least managed to get to bed.”

“ _Kids’ll do that to you. I’ll let you go.”_

“Hey, erm, I think I should be around in maybe three weeks time. Got a job out in the ass end of Vale that borders Vacuo.”

“ _I’ll save you a room.”_

The smile couldn’t be helped and he nodded his head. “See you then.” He let her hang up and let out a breath once he put his scroll away. Somehow, he just knew that this whole set up between them was working and it warmed his heart just a little bit.

“When do we get to meet her?”

Qrow glanced over his shoulder at Summer, perched against the door frame with a soft smile on her face. Her signature white hood was pulled down and she untied the clasp around her neck. She nudged it off her shoulders and let it drape over one of the rocking chairs Tai had built on the porch. He ducked his head and shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe when I'm used to being called 'Dad'."

"Do you think you'll ever get used to it?"

"Nope." He let out a breath and pulled a face as Summer sat down next to him. "It makes me feel old."

Summer let out a small chuckle and poked Qrow's side. "Cause you are old."

"Watch it," he teased back, poking her side back. "I know all of the good tickle spots." As if for emphasis he wriggled his fingers against Summer's side, making her squirm with a muffled giggle to avoid waking Yang up.

"Qrow!" Summer gritted out as she twisted away from him.

He let out a chuckle and finally relented before he woke anybody up. “One for Qrow.”

She shoved his side with a grin, “Oh shut up. Seriously, when do we get to meet her? She sounds so cute. What does she look like? Does she look like you? Her Mom? What _does_ her Mom look like? Are you being a good influence to her?” The last question was asked with a raised brow and a slight head tilt that made Qrow feel like Summer was scrutinising him.

He held a hand to his chest in mock shock and shook his head lightly, “Summer, are you suggesting that _I_ may be a bad role model for my own daughter?”

Summer flicked his ear with a grin, “Yes, Qrow. Yes I am.”

“Well, one, I am offended by that statement. I have yet to lead her astray.”

“Oh the rebellions don’t start until their teenage years from what I hear. I mean, once she starts taking an interest in boys, staying out late, sneaking in and out of the house at all hours of the night.”

Qrow narrowed his eyes, a strange feeling settling in his stomach and he shuffled in his seat. “Why would you say that?”

“I’m a sadist. Besides, I was a young, teenage girl myself once? Probably gave my parents a couple of heart attacks.” She shoved his shoulder with hers, “You didn’t answer my other questions.”

“You distracted me with images I really didn’t need to think about.”

Summer rolled her eyes and reached out for Qrow’s scroll, snatching it from his grasp. “You have pictures of her right? If you don’t then you’re a terrible parent.” Summer’s attention was already fixed on the small screen as she started to flick through the images Qrow had stored. She skipped through all the ones of Yang and leaned away from Qrow when he tried to snatch his scroll away, pushing one hand into his chest.

“Sum, give it back.”

“I wanna see a picture!”

“Just-”

“You can have it back in a secon- oooh!” she squealed, stopping as a new image popped up on his screen. Leona had just sent it through to him and it was a picture of a small girl curled up underneath her blankets, black hair tied up into a braid that came just over one shoulder. In her hands was a stuffed teddy bear with one missing ear and a tattered looking body. “Qrow, she’s adorable! You have more right?”

Qrow grumbled as he finally snatched it back to get a good look at the image himself. Leona often sent him a new image, reminding him of what Robin looked like and he smiled gently at the image. “Fine,” he mumbled, sliding the image off his screen to find an image he had of both Leona and Robin. When he found it he showed it to Summer. Leona was behind the bar, smile wide on her face with one brow raised as she leaned crossed armed on the bar top. Her blonde hair was held back from her face with a green headband, accentuating her green eyes. Robin was sat as close to cross legged as she could get, holding up a scribbled drawing. It wasn’t easy to make out, but Qrow’s best guess was that it was meant to be some kind of stick figure in black. After that it was lost on him. But Robin’s red eyes were bright with pride crayons scattered around her legs. “Here. That’s Leona, her Mom, and that’s Robin.”

“Oh, wow,” Summer quipped as she took the scroll back and studied the image. “She’s definitely yours. Looks kinda like a mini Raven actually.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Downside of being a twin.”

“Yep.”

“I hope she takes after her Mom.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Summer held his scroll back out to him with a shit eating grin, “Nothing.”

“I will end you.”

She cleared her throat and held a hand to her chest, “As leader of team STRQ, you are forbidden from ending me, from right here until forever.”

Qrow stared at her for a second before he grinned, “Good thing I hate following rules then.”

“Yang’s still sleeping,” she tried.

That made Qrow pause his advance on her, hands still outstretched, ready to tickle her again. He glanced back towards the house before he hung his head with a sigh. “Pfft,” he mumbled and he climbed to his feet. “Just know, that tomorrow, I’m coming for you.”

As he started into the house to try catch some shut eye himself he heard Summer pique up, “You still haven’t said when we can meet her.”

He shrugged. It was bad enough that he was seeing her once every seven months, if he made it in time, never mind trying to schedule family and friends into those visits. Part of him still didn’t think it was real and was waiting for the world to rip it away from him. Another part of him wanted to soak up every minute he could with Robin and he wasn’t sure which part scared him more. “How about I ask Leona if you can come with me? I’m going in a few weeks time.”

There was the sound of another squeal before Summer jumped on his back, making him stumble with a ‘oof’. Her arms wound their way around his neck and he felt her press her cheek against his with an ear splitting grin. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“Don’t blame me if she doesn’t like you though.”

Summer gasped with mock offense, “How dare you suggest she won’t like me. Have you tried my cookies?”

“No bribing my kid, please.”

“I make no promises.”


	3. Chapter 3

He’d barely set foot inside of ‘Oasis’ before something barrelled into his legs and wrapped itself tightly around his let leg. Qrow raised one brow and tilted his head to look down with a smirk as a pair of red eyes peered up at him from beneath messy bangs. The rest of Robin’s hair had been tied up into some kind of loose braid that touched her chin. “Hi,” she grinned up at him.

“Hey, kiddo.” He crouched down when she held her arms up and picked her up, settling her on his waist with a small grunt. “Well aren’t you getting big.”

She hummed and latched herself to his neck, doing her best to squeeze the life out of him, “Mass said he show me ampin’ and….” The rest was lost to him in a world of child speak and he nodded his head with short ‘Uh huh’s’ and ‘Yeah?’s’

He heard the swish of the door behind him, letting him know that Summer had stepped inside and Robin’s words suddenly died. Qrow raised one brow as he felt her tense against his side. “Robin?” he coaxed, giving her a small nudge with his shoulder. He turned slightly to glance over at Summer who was staring at the child with wide eyes. Robin’s fingers scratched roughly at the base of Qrow’s neck and Summer gave a small smile and wave. The quiet lull of the Inn was shattered by the sudden cries that came from Robin. He froze, feeling the wet tears against his neck and shoulder and her fingers cling to him. He glanced towards the room, looking for Leona, for some kind of help, only to find all eyes on him and he felt the panic increase. “Robin?” he whispered, trying to tug her gently from his neck.

She clung to him harder, burying her face as much as she could against him, shaking her head ever so slightly. “No,” she wailed loudly for everybody to hear, voice muffled slightly. “Make it-” she choked out, “-go away,” and she cried harder. “Stop it.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Leona whispered, appearing from Qrow’s other side. “Hey,” she mumbled, trying to press her hands underneath Robin’s arms. Eventually the child yielded and Leona turned Robin towards herself, allowing the girl to bury her face in her Mother’s neck. “Hey,” she whispered again, stroking a hand over the top of her head, “what’s wrong? It’s just your Dad and his friend. Remember? Summer? Come on sweetie, what’s going on.”

Robin shook her head, “Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“Just stop it.”

Leona sighed and cradled Robin’s head to her shoulder. “Okay, shhhh,” she turned to the room, “if you’re all done staring, Ash, get behind the bar. Eva, turn the music up. Rest of you get on.”

“Erm,” Qrow mumbled, scratching a hand to the back of his neck.

Leona shook her head, “I don’t know. She’s not done this before,” she juggled the girl in her arms whose cries had quietened down to small sobs, a hiccup interrupting her every now and again. “Let me settle her down in bed and I’ll be right back.”

Before Qrow could say anything else Leona was up the stairs and gone, whispering to Robin as she went, trying to calm her down. Summer tugging at his wrist drew his attention and he nodded towards a free table on one side of the room. “Was it something I did?” Summer muttered once they were seated.

Qrow waved her off, “You didn’t do anything. Maybe it’s some kid thing.”

“But you didn’t see,” Summer started and she looked away, silver eyes giving away the heartache instantly. She tugged her cloak further around her, a movement Qrow had come to recognise as comfort, trying to hide herself away from the world and any prying eyes. Usually out of shyness, but this time, Qrow could see the unease in her fingers as they played with a loose thread. “The way she just stared at me, like she was,” she sighed and looked back up at Qrow’s curious gaze with something akin to loss, “like she was staring _into_ me. Then her look changed and I was some, some monster, or something from a nightmare. You didn’t see the way she looked so terrified of me from the moment I stepped through the door.”

Qrow opened his mouth but he didn’t know what to say. Summer wasn’t easily startled by looks or glares, she’d dealt with Raven for the past 8 years, growing a tolerance for that kind of stuff. The fact that Summer looked almost ready to burst into tears, made him pause. He let out a slow breath and shrugged his shoulders. “Kids are weird? I’m sure Robin’s just having a moment. You hear all these stories about kids showing their parents up, throwing tantrums. Maybe it’s, maybe it’s some kind of phase?” He shrugged as he finished, not sure what else to say.

Summer sighed and ducked her gaze. Qrow threaded his fingers through his hair and stood up, “I’ll get us a drink. Anything in particular?” In response she shook her head, hands still fiddling with her cloak and he let out a breath once he was out of ear shot. He really hoped that it was some sort of phase or acting out and that it would pass. He would hate for Summer to have come all the way out for nothing. Her heart had been so set on meeting Robin that it actually hurt him to see her so down.

An hour, three drinks and 4 rounds of vicious poker later, Qrow and everyone else losing to Summer’s unreadable face, Leona returned, pulling them both to one side with a sag in her shoulders. “She okay?” Qrow started.

Ash came over, a new round of drinks for everyone, including Leona, and disappeared with the empty glasses. Leona sat down and ran a hand over her face, “She’s finally asleep.” She glanced at Summer and reached a hand out to hers, gently placing it on top with a soft squeeze, “She doesn’t hate you, I promise. Robin was so excited to meet you this morning she wouldn’t stop saying ‘Summer, Summer, Summer’.” She let out a small laugh, “She was actually worried you wouldn’t like her.”

A rose blush tinted Summer’s cheeks and she looked away with a shy smile, “Well she could have fooled me.”

Leona took a large gulp of her drink and shrugged her shoulders, “Being honest, I have no idea what that was. Something upset her and when I tried to get a straight answer out of her, all she would say was that she ‘didn’t like it’ and ‘it’s not fair’.”

“Whatever that’s supposed to mean,” Qrow muttered behind his glass.

“Kids,” Leona mumbled. “How long were you two planning to stay anyway?”

Qrow shrugged, “Few days? Summer’s not really been to Vacuo before so we were going to do a little sight seeing.”

Summer nodded, perking up a little. “It’s so different to Vale, in terms of culture, way of life, even the Grimm are different here. You guys get extra Death Stalkers and Goliaths. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one of them up close.”

Leona raised a brow with a smirk, “Well we’d all appreciate it if you didn’t antagonise the Grimm here, please. There’s like an, _understanding_ , between us and them. Kind of. They stay far enough away from us and we stay far enough away from them. We get a few every now and again so of course we need patrols, but other than that, it’s fairly quiet.”

“I wasn’t going to attack anything! Just look!”

Leona laughed, holding a hand over her mouth. “I’m kidding. Don’t worry. Look, you two enjoy your time. There’s only one room left, unfortunately. Just let me know and I’ll give you keys when you’re ready. Just enjoy yourselves, Robin will be fine in the morning.” With that, she gave them one last wave and left them, taking her drink with her. Summer and Qrow spent the rest of their night chatting and drinking, enjoying the warm, hum of the inn.

* * *

Qrow woke up on the couch, a blanket draped over him and the curtains wide open, letting in too much daylight in his opinion. He yawned, slowly sitting up as he pushed the blanket away, scratching the back of his neck as he did so. Once he finally focused on the room he frowned at the lack of Summer and her stuff. Did she leave without him?

There were no messages or missed calls on his scroll which meant he still didn’t know where she was. “ _Sum?”_ he sent, hoping the one word question was enough. He grabbed his pants and shoes, pulling them on before he visited the bathroom. When he came back there was a message from Summer, “ _Bar,”_ was all it said. He put his scroll away and made his way down stairs.

It was when he was at the top of the stairs that he heard the giggling and the squealing laughter of a child. With a smile he made the last step and turned the corner, stopping short at the sight of Robin wriggling around in Summer’s lap as Summer tickled her sides on the couches that surrounded the fire place. Leona was at one of the tables, a spread of books and paper in front of her whilst a few people ate and others cleaned up the room.

“S-s-st-st-to-p,” Robin squealed out as she tried to drag herself out of Summer’s lap.

“Tickle monsters don’t stop for anyone!”

“N-n-no!”

“Magic word! Magic word!”

“P-Pw-wea-ease!”

Summer chuckled as she stopped, letting Robin slide to the floor with heavy pants. Qrow raised a brow as he walked over and crossed his arms over the back of the couch. “Are you torturing my daughter?” he teased.

Summer looked up at him with a mock, horror expression, “It wasn’t me. The tickle monster came out and took her by surprise.”

Robin popped up, throwing her arms onto the spare seat on the couch and jumped up and down on the spot. “Cookies? Pwease? Pwease? Pwease?”

Qrow glared down at Summer, “Really?”

She shrugged her shoulders, “What?”

“You’re not allowed here again.”

“No!” Robin cried as she put her arms into Summer’s lap. “No, she is. She can, can come whenev- when- ever she wants. Don’t hurt her!”

That took him by surprise and he held his hands up, “I’m not going to hurt her.”

“Robin,” Summer said, tugging Robin onto her lap so that she had the child’s full attention, “your father would never hurt me. He’s far too nice.” Qrow snorted and finally took a seat on the arm of the couch on Robin’s other side. “Besides,” she mocked whispered, “everybody knows I’d kick his butt.”

Robin’s eyes widened and she turned to look at Qrow. He matched her gaze, glanced at Summer and slowly looked back to Robin before he nodded his head. He held a hand to his mouth and mock whispered, “She’s really mean when nobody’s around.”

This time Robin looked back at Summer with her wide gaze and Summer chuckled to herself. “This is what I mean by bad influence.”

“Robin?” Leona called out, “Have you finished your breakfast?”

Qrow glanced back to the woman before he clocked the plate of half eaten fruit and bacon on the small coffee table in front of them. He gave Robin a small look and raised one brow before she bit her bottom lip and nodded her head, “Yeah. Not hungry.”

“So you’re not hungry enough for cookies?”

She thought about it for a moment before she said, “No?”

“Finish your breakfast.”

"You feeling better?" Qrow muttered, reaching over for a strawberry and popping it in his mouth. Robin shrugged as she played with one of the ties for Summer's cloak. "You don't know?" 

"You don't know," Robin whispered as she tugged at the tie. 

"Well that's rude," he chided with a smirk. She stuck her tongue out at him and blew a raspberry. Summer tried to stifle a laugh but she failed, earning a chuckle from Robin and Qrow rolled his eyes. "Why have you turned her against me?" Qrow’s scroll went and he jerked at the sudden noise. Nobody would call him at, eight on a Sunday morning, but the caller ID told him it was Tai and he raised a brow curiously. What could he possibly want? “Ta-”

“She’s gone. Qrow, your sister’s fucking gone. Grabbed her stuff and left. She left her scroll, left me, left Yang, just left and I-”

He jumped up, hands up in front of him and he took a few paces, “Tai, calm down.”

“Calm down? Calm-” there was the sound of screaming in the background and he winced, his chest tight. There was no way Raven had just left right? Not after Yang? “-christ. Why would- why didn’t she-” more screaming and he heard a small cry leave Tai’s mouth.

“Okay, grab Yang,” Tai started to protest, his mind clearly in panic mode at being left alone with a two month old child whilst his wife had up and left during the night. “Just grab her, get her settled, feed her, we’ll come back. Okay? We’ll come back and try to, try to find her, figure out what’s happened.”

“But it’s Raven. You and I both-”

“Just take care of Yang. We’ll be there.”

There was another cry and heavy breathing on the other line and Qrow tried to quell his own panic. He and Raven had promised years ago to stick by each others side. That no matter what they wouldn’t leave without a good reason or death. If Tai was right and Raven really had left, then she owed him, and everyone else a dammed good reason. If there was a good enough reason. “Okay,” Tai whispered and the line cut out.

Qrow sighed, wrapping his hand tightly around his scroll. What were they going to do?

“Qrow?” Summer tried, her whisper too loud in the silent inn.

He glanced round to see everyone staring and he scowled at them before they looked away. He trudged back to Summer and smiled sadly down at Robin. She stared up quizzically and he reached down for her, settling her on his hip. “Hey little one, me and Sum have got to go. Something’s-”

Robin reached forward and wrapped her hands around his neck. “Is okay.” She leaned back and smiled up at him, “Is okay.”

He grinned and kissed her forehead, “I’ll come back when it’s sorted.”

“Okay,” she said with an innocent grin.

“Finish your breakfast.”

Summer was now stood up and she grabbed her bag with a worried frown. “Fine,” Robin said, “but we have ta make cookies ‘ext ‘ime.”

Summer ruffled her hair with a tight smile, “Of course.”

Qrow eventually put her back down, watching as she went back to her plate of food and picked up a blueberry. He sighed and shuffled over to Leona, “There’s an emergency back home. I’m sorry, I’ll, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

She waved him off with a warm smile and shrugged, “Things happen. Go, get out of here.”

It was only once they were outside and several yards away from the Inn that Summer looked over towards Qrow, tugged on his arm and dared to ask, “What’s wrong?”

He frowned as he said, “Raven grabbed her stuff and just left in the middle of the night.”

“What?” Summer stopped in her tracks, hands to her mouth as she stared at him wide eyed. “Why? Wait, how’s Tai? What about Yang?”

He shook his head, “Tai’s panicking.”

“No,” she murmured. “Oh my God, I’ll kill her.”

Qrow snorted, “You and me both. Come on.”


	4. Chapter 4

It had been 2 months since Raven had left without a word or note and it hadn’t been easy. Tai hadn’t taken Raven’s disappearance easy to the point that he’d often stayed up late, stood on the porch, looking out for any sign of movement in the surrounding forest. Summer was doing her best to try to keep the house together and Qrow was trying to look for Raven in between the jobs he took. His first guess had been the bandit camp that they’d grown up in, but he wasn’t entirely sure where they were nowadays.

He sighed as he took a pit stop in Mistral, taking refuge in a small cave for the night. The last rumour of hint he’d heard was that there had been a camp that had traipsed through the southern parts of Mistral, apparently turning a village to ash as they passed through it. It made him sick to think that his sister had gone back to a camp of murderers and thieves. Since they’d been assigned to go Beacon Qrow’s eyes had been opened to the world, mostly in thanks to Ozpin, but he saw that there was more to the world than scavenging and living in the wild. There were friends, family, helping those who are struggling to make it through the week. Being a Hunter wasn’t the most glamorous of jobs, but Qrow wouldn’t give it or his new found family up for that life he’d once had.

The rain had started to come down in small trickles and he frowned at the treeline. There’d been a few markings that were familiar to him, a few that gave him false direction and very few that showed him the correct way. He’s gotten so caught up in running after the camp that he’d lost track of time and he’d been forced to shelter in this small cave. The fire he’d set up just about warmed him up and he had enough food to last him two more days. He grabbed his scroll and fired off a quick message to both Summer and Tai with a simple note of, “I’m fine.” With that done he tried to settle down for the night. It wasn’t going to be a comfortable sleep but it was better than sleeping in the rain.

He’d just about started to drift off when his scroll vibrated against his leg. He blinked his eyes open and reached for it, wondering who was calling him at this time and when he opened the call it was to a video call with Robin. Instantly he smiled and he shifted so that the fire caught his face a little better. “Hey, isn’t it past your bed time?”

She yawned and shuffled. If he could guess, he’d say that she was curled up in bed. “Wanned to say hi.”

“Well hi there.”

She grinned and nuzzled her cheek into her pillow. “Hi. When are you c‘ming ‘ack.”

“Does your Mom know you’ve got her scroll?”

Robin’s eyes widened for a moment and he watched as she looked over her shoulder before hunching down again, “Don’t tell.”

He chuckled and nodded his head. “Okay, just between us.”

She beamed at him and said, “When are you back?”

“Hmmm,” he hummed and he started to count down on his fingers for her to see, “I need to go back to Summer, sit with her for a bit. Then I have a job in Vale. I think somebody wanted me in Mistral and _maybe_ I have time for you after that.”

“Noooo! Now!”

“Now?”

She grinned and nodded her head. “Uh huh. Now.”

“I can’t, how about in… five, six….. nine days.”

She bit her bottom lip, narrowed her eyes and thought about it. “Nine….. hmmm, okay. Nine days. I can wait.” He hummed and tilted his head to get comfy. This whole being a father thing wasn’t as bad as thought it might be. “Where are you?”

He sighed and turned the scroll round to show off the cave he was in before he brought it back to his face, “In a cave.”

“Why?”

“Because I lost track of time.”

“Why?”

“I was trying to follow someone.”

“Who?”

He raised a brow. What was with the questions? “A friend.”

“Oh. Why?”

“Robin,” he sighed, “you should be going to sleep.”

She groaned and shook her head, “Don’t wanna.”

“You know, the sooner you go to sleep the sooner I’ll see you again.”

She groaned again, letting a yawn take over before she shook her head again. “Wanna stay up.”

“Uh huh,” he hummed with a smile, “and do you do this to your Mom?”

“Nooo,” she muttered and he raised a brow. He gave hew a few seconds of silence before she shuffled and said, “but I don’t wanna go bed.”

“Robin, sweetie, go to sleep. It’s late and you’ll only be more tired in the morning.”

She pulled a face and closed her eyes. “Fine.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Love you.”

“Love you, Daddy.” He watched the screen for a few more seconds, wondering if she was going to end the call. She didn’t make a move and he raised a brow before he heard a soft snore. He had to bite his lip to hold in his laugh before he ended the call and put his scroll away. Only then did he finally let himself chuckle with a wide grin before he settled back down to sleep again.


	5. Chapter 5

Qrow darted his eyes around the streets with a raised brow. There was some kind of event going on in Vacuo and apparently it attracted a lot of attention. Stalls and markets lined the streets and there was some kind of festival going on. Leona was being almost over run at the Inn and had told him, “She’s yours for the rest of day. Tire her out, please?”

What he didn’t realise when he agreed, was that children seemed to have an abundance of energy and Robin bounced next to him, trying at every corner to stray from his side. More than once he’d managed to catch her by her sleeve or collar and tug her back to his side. “Stop running off.”

“But I wanna look.”

“And we will, I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t.”

He sighed. It was going to be a long day. There was an open park of some kind with a screen set up to play some films throughout the day. Stalls lined the roads and there were many entertainers attracting attention and loose Lien from the tourists. “What do you want to do first?”

He glanced down to see her frown at the crowds, a deep furrow in her brows. “Hmmm,” she hummed and he raised a brow, wondering how long she was going to think about it. Almost a full minute passed before she pointed off towards their left. “That!”

He looked over to see a Ferris wheel and slowly looked back down to Robin. “Are you sure?”

She blinked up at him before she grinned, “Scaredy cat.”

He stuck his tongue out and grabbed her hand as he marched them over towards it, “If you start crying on me, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I’m not gonna cry. You’re gonna cry.”

Qrow smirked and looked down at her as they joined the queue. “Uh huh, we’ll see.”

She couldn’t keep still by his side, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet until they reached the front of the line. Robin practically jumped into the chair and Qrow slid in beside her, doing up the safety belt and making sure she couldn’t stand up in it before he pulled the safety barrier down. It took a few seconds for the ride to start and they stopped a few times as they went round, different people getting their turn at the top of the ride. As much as Qrow enjoyed the sights of Vacuo from up high, not that it was anything new, he couldn’t stop himself from admiring Robin’s look of awe as she tried to stand up in seat. “Dat’s my house!” she pointed out, “And dat’s the hill. Oh, dat’s the park. See that? That’s Mr Horns house.”

He chuckled and eventually it was their turn at the top. “We’re giants!”

“Yes, we are. Have you looked down yet?”

Robin blinked at him before she leaned forward to peer over the safety bar and she kicked her feet with a small giggle. “We’re high up.”

Qrow leaned over to look down as well and he raised a brow, surprised by how high the Ferris wheel was. “Yep, looks like.” He reached out a hand and laid it on her back. He pointed in the distance to a series of mountains that separated Vale and Vacuo and grabbed her attention. “I live over that mountain, keep going a little more and then there’s a small island called Patch.”

“Patch?” she whispered as she tried to stand up on her tip toes to peer over the mountain. “Can I go there one day?”

He chuckled and leaned back in his seat as the ride started to move again, “When you’re older. There’s all kinds of Grimm between there and here.”

“Oh. But one day?”

“One day.”

Hot dogs were next. Followed by cotton candy. Followed by a bathroom break, a few failed attempts at winning a stuffed toy and a couple of successful ones in his part. There was a small children’s roller coaster which he _had_ to ride with her. (She begged him, dragging him towards a train with a bright pink face and a yellow paint job.) Eventually they ended up watching some play about the history of Vacuo and Robin had tucked herself against his side, head nodding off. He had to admit, even he was beginning to feel exhausted from the day. As he felt his eyes begin to blink close he shook his head and gently nudged Robin. She mumbled and slowly pulled herself up to blink blearily up at him. “Huh?”

“Let’s get you home, kiddo.”

“Oh,” she mumbled and she yawned. Once she’d finished she held her hands up to Qrow and he shuffled the bag of stuffed toys and left over sweets to one side before he picked her up and settled her on his hip. He tried to hide his own yawn as he made the seemingly long walk back to _Oasis_. The fact that it had been a warm day hadn’t made his tiredness any easier to deal with.

By the time he reached the front door he was all but dragging his feet and he blinked at the sudden change in brightness and noise. The inn was still incredibly busy and Robin stirred against his side. “Shhh,” Qrow whispered before he wound his way through the crowd, trying to look out for Leona. He spotted her dealing with what looked to be an oncoming brawl and he tried to wave over to her. One of the men she was between pushed against her and she swung an elbow out and glared at him, one hand on her waist. He raised a brow and stepped back, hating to be that guy right now. He edged back until he found the stairs and he stood on the first step and looked over the crowd, stepping back to let people pass until he finally got Leona’s attention. He nodded his head towards Robin, pointed upstairs and gave her a wave as he started to climb the stairs.

Robin’s room was a whole lot quieter and he let out a sigh as he trudged over to her bed and debated on getting her changed into pyjamas before he shrugged, eased her onto the bed and tugged her socks and shoes off. He had to wrestle a little bit to get her cardigan off and he threw that across the room. Once he’d tucked her underneath the quilt with one of the stuffed teddy bears from today, he turned, the call for bed way too strong to ignore.

“Dad?”

He turned at the whisper and found Robin sitting up and staring sleepily up at him. “Go to sleep, Robin.”

“Stay. Don’t go.”

“I take up a lot of room.”

She pouted and his shoulders dropped. “Pwease?”

He gave it two seconds before he toed his shoes off, unclasped his cape and pulled his socks off. “Move over.”

“’Kay!”

He kicked his pants off and climbed into the waiting bed. Robin curled up against his side, head nestled against his chest as she laid an arm over him. Qrow shuffled a little until he found a comfortable spot on his back and he wrapped an arm around her and finally closed his eyes. “Night, Little Bird.”

“Night Daddy.”

When he woke up the next morning it was to an image on his scroll of him and Robin in bed together, him with one arm thrown across his pillow, the other arm across Robin’s side of the bed. Robin was stretched, both arms reaching up above her head and one of her legs reaching across one of Qrow’s, her mouth open in a silent snore. It quickly became the background on his scroll and his new favourite picture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say a big thank you to everyone that's been reading and following this story. I'm having a lot of fun writing it and I hope you're having fun reading it. *warning, the light stuff doesn't last forever :( *


	6. Chapter 6

Robin hummed to herself as she tried to scribble between the lines in her colouring book. Today was a special day, it was her fourth birthday and her Mom had promised to close the Inn for the day to give her daughter a day to herself, just the two of them. It would have been three, except her Dad had had to stay home in Patch. His niece had come down with some sort of fever and rash and her Father, Tai had tripped over a misplaced toy at the top of the stairs and broken his leg. Summer had been away and so her own father had had to stay behind and help keep his home together until Summer got back.

She dropped her pink crayon to adjust the stuffed, brown bunny rabbit that was tucked tightly by her side. It was one of her favourites since her Dad had won it at the fair the last time he was here. Bed, bath, downstairs, toilet. Everywhere she went, it came with her. Although she hadn’t come up with a name yet she didn’t dare let go of it or let it out of her sight.

It was still early and Robin was only half sure her Mom was still in bed. Robin had gotten into a habit of sleeping with the curtains open and so when the sun was up she was up too, something her Mom hated. She picked up a green crayon, shuffled her bottom and stuck her tongue out as she tried to focus on the grass she was colouring in.

She’d moved onto a picture of a mermaid and some fish when there was a knock at her bedroom door. “Robin,” her Mom sang as she opened the door, “guess who’s birthday it is?”

Robin grinned and looked up at her Mom. She dropped the crayon and brushed a few strands of black hair away from her eyes. “Mine?”

Her Mom pulled a face and looked away, one hand on her chin. “Is it? Hmmm, I could have sworn it was Nile’s.”

Robin giggled and sat up on her knees, “Noooo, it’s miiine!”

Leona finally stepped into the room, one hand behind her back. “Really? Since when?”

“Mooom! Since always.”

“I think somebody’s going silly.”

“Nooo. You’re silly,” she quipped with another giggle.

Leona grinned and knelt down in front of Robin. She made a show of letting out a huff before she brought her arm from around her back. In her hand was a small parcel, wrapped in green paper and topped off with blue ribbon. “If I’m silly, then who did I get this for if it wasn’t Nile? Green’s his favourite colour too.”

“I like green.”

She frowned, trying to be serious, “But it’s not your favourite.” Robin stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry. Leona pretended to look shocked and held a hand to her chest. “Well that’s cheeky. I think somebody needs to stop hanging out with Jules and the other boys.” Leona dropped the parcel to reach out and tickle Robin’s sides. Robin dissolved into a fit of laughter and giggles as she tried to wriggle away from her Mother. “Do I need to put a curfew on your time with them?”

“No! No, no, no, noooo. No! Mo-ooom,” Robin howled as she tried to wriggle free.

Leona chuckled and finally relented. “Come here,” she said as she pulled Robin onto her lap and put the parcel in her lap. “I think you’ve suffered enough for this time in the morning. So, birthday girl, I guess I’ve got nobody else to give this to, so here you go.”

Robin giggled and took the parcel, dropping her rabbit long enough to pull the ribbon away and rip at the paper. It fell in a bundle of blue, green, brown and red. She pushed the paper away and pulled at the brown and red fabric, turning it around until she was faced with a latte brown dress, complete with a puffy skirt and a red band around the middle. Her mouth dropped open with appreciation and she twisted to look up at her Mom and shake the dress at her. “I wanna put it on. I wanna put it on.”

“Okay, okay,” Leona laughed as she scooted Robin to her feet and helped her to change into her new dress. Once it was on she tugged it into place, smoothed the fabric down and held Robin at arm’s length so that she could take in the full view. “Well? What do you think?”

Robin responded by jumping at Leona and wrapped her arms tightly around her neck. “I love it! Love it, love it, love it!” She stepped back, grabbed the skirt on her dress and span in a circle, fanning the fabric out with a giggle.

“Good,” Leona said as she stroked the hair out of Robin’s face. “Come on, let’s go watch some of your favourite movies, especially the ones I hate.”

“Yay,” Robin shouted, her hands in the air before she ran from the room and headed downstairs, her feet hitting every step with a loud thud.

Leona pinched her eyes shut for a moment before she grinned and followed her daughter.

* * *

Several movies, bowls of popcorn, fruit, sandwiches and games later, Leona put her scroll in front of Robin just as the screen pinged to life. Qrow’s face appeared and there was a head of small, curly blonde hair on his shoulder. A moment later and he looked at the scroll before he beamed, “Hey, kiddo. I hear it’s your birthday.”

Robin laughed and nodded her head, “Hi Daddy! Is that Yan’?”

Qrow glanced at the lump on his shoulder and nodded his head, “Yep. I’d introduce you both but she’s sleeping.”

“Awww. Next time.”

He laughed and nodded his head, “Next time. Remind me how old you are.”

“Four,” she said and she held her hand up, counting the years off on her fingers, “one, two, three, four.”

“Wow, you’re getting old quick.”

“No, I’m not old. You’re old.”

“Hey, I am not old.”

“Old!”

“Not old.”

“Are too,” she chimed and she stuck her tongue out with a giggle.

Qrow narrowed his eyes and shuffled Yang in his arms, “I think I need to have a word with your Mom about your manners, missy.”

Robin grinned and shook her head as she leaned back into the couch. “No, they are good.”

“Uh huh, what’ve you been doing? Torturing your Mom with those films she hates.”

“Yep! Oh, Dad, look,” Robin stood up on the couch and wobbled as she tried to hold the scroll out to show off her dress. “Mommy got me a new dress. I like it.”

“Suits you, Little Bird. Now sit down before you fall off and hurt yourself.”

There was a snigger off screen and Qrow’s face soured. Robin jumped onto her bottom and tilted her head as she tried to look around the screen. “Who’s that?”

The camera moved and a tanned man with blonde hair appeared on camera next to Qrow. His blue eyes were bright and his small goatee made Robin bite her lip with a stifled giggle. “Robin, meet Taiyang Xiao Long. Tai, this is Robin.”

“Hey,” Tai said with a small wave, “so you’re the mini Qrow we’ve heard so much about.”

Robin waved her hand back to him and nodded her head, “Are you Yan’s Dad?”

He grinned and nodded his head, “Yeah. Your Dad’s helping me out. I accidentally broke my leg.”

Qrow snorted and rolled his eyes, “You fell down the stairs.”

Tai glared and shoved Qrow’s back, “Cause somebody likes to kick Yang’s toys about.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You’re in twouble,” Robin sang song as she pointed at her Dad.

“Hey, don’t you gang up on me.”

Robin giggle and Tai smirked at her, “You should ask your Dad to show the pictures of him in a skirt.”

This time Qrow punched Tai’s shoulder hard enough to jerk the muscular man. “Stop putting ideas in her head.”

Robin however was stuck on that mental image. “Why did you wear a skir-skew-sk-ewt?”

Qrow held his free hand up, “Because Uncle _Tai_ is a jerk.”

“Why?”

“Cause it was funny,” Tai added.

Qrow planted his hand on Tai’s face and shoved him away as he turned the camera solely onto his own face. “Did your Mom give you my present?”

Robin sat up a little straighter and shook her head. “No, what is it?”

“I’m not going to ruin the surprise.”

“But I don’t have it!”

“ _Is that who I think it is?”_ Qrow was shoved to one side and suddenly Summer’s face filled the screen. “Robin!”

“Summer!” Robin shouted back. “I thought you were away.”

“Just got back,” she grinned at the small girl and all but shoved Qrow to one side. “And I hear it’s your birthday.”

“Yeah. I’m four.”

“Wow, that’s such a big number. Soon you’ll be five and then six, then seven and eight and soon you’ll be old and grumpy like Dad.”

“Hey!”

Robin giggled and suddenly she was aware of the lights going out. She froze, blinked her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. “Robin?” Qrow said and she looked back at the screen to see three pairs of eyes staring expectantly at her. Summer broke into a grin first and Robin smelt the burning candles before a small vanilla cake with orange buttercream frosting appeared between her and the scroll. Leona reached out and plucked the scroll from her hands, holding it further away to give everyone on the scroll a good view.

“One, two, three,” Leona started and there was a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ being sung to her. She grinned throughout the entire song, feeling like the happiest girl in the world as the song ended and she blew the candles out. There were cheers from all around and the scroll was put back into her hands. Summer reached over Qrow and took Yang from his arms with a wave goodbye. Tai waved goodbye and Qrow stepped away from them with a warm grin. “Here,” Leona said once they were alone. She set a small box in Robin’s lap, wrapped haphazardly in pink paper. She pointed to the screen and said, “Your Dad sent this.”

Robin’s eyes lit up and she ripped at the paper, dropping the box in the process. “Oh,” she mumbled as she gathered it back up and turned it over until she could open it up. Inside was a thick black, fabric bracelet. As she turned it over in her hands Robin noted a line of red and a line of blue running once around the bracelet.

Qrow cleared his throat and held up his own wrist to show a similar bracelet and Robin quickly slipped it onto her own wrist. “This way, me and your Mom are always with you. No matter where we are, we're always there. Red for me and blue for your Mom.”

Robin bit her bottom lip with a wide grin and held it up to show him, “I love it. I love you.”

He chuckled and nodded his head, “I love you too, Robin.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're all enjoying this series. Let me know what you think!

Robin mumbled to herself as she smacked her toy Grimm model into the toy Hunter model she had, making exploding sound effects before making the Hunter fall to the floor. She slapped the Grimm on top of the Hunter a few times before pushing the Hunter to one side. She reached to one side and grabbed the toy train she had and lined it up on the carpet with the Grimm. “Free, two, one,” she announced before she pushed the train over the top of the Grimm, making the sound effects with her mouth.

She made the Grimm fly into the air and do several flips in the air before it crashed to the floor with a death sound. She grabbed another Grimm model, this one of a Death Stalker, and made it shimmy towards the train before it crawled over it. “Aaah,” she mumbled, “nooo, get off. Get off. _Rawr. Rawr. I am bigger dan you. Argh.”_

Qrow raised a brow as he watched her, curious to what exactly was going through Robin’s mind. She’d been lost for the last 30 minutes in whatever make believe scenario she had made up with the trains, cars, models and toys that were strewn around her. To say it had been an interesting year was an understatement. Tai and Summer had gotten together enough to knock Summer up, making Qrow an uncle all over again. Three year old Yang had just discovered her semblance thanks to Tai trying to get her first hair cut, unsuccessfully. Now that had been one hell of a conversation with the hair salon and a lifetime ban.

On top of that the Spring Maiden had run off without a word to anyone. Qrow had been tasked with trying to find her and try to talk some sense into her. The last trace of her he’d found was somewhere South in Vacuo and he’d figured whilst he was in the area, why not drop by. He needed something to take his mind off the near impossible task and something that would pick his mood up.

His scroll beeped and he looked at it to see a message from Summer that screamed, _“IT’S A GIRL!”_

He smiled and typed back a quick, “Congrats! Got a name yet?” before he set his scroll down and glanced over at Robin again and he stared, smile dropping from his face. Robin was sat still, staring off into the distance, one toy gripped precariously between her fingers. He counted the seconds until he reached ten and he turned in his seat to face her and quietly said, “Robin?”

Leona hummed and he heard her drop a towel onto the bar top before she came to stand next to Qrow’s chair. Robin still hadn’t moved and her eyes were focused on something on the wall opposite her. “Robin?” Leona tried but it had no effect on her. “Sweetie?”

“Hey,” Qrow tried and he sat on the edge of his seat. Robin blinked once but she didn’t move any other muscle. Qrow leaned towards Leona, his eyes fixed on their daughter and said, “Has she done this before?”

Leona shrugged a shoulder, “Maybe. Not usually this long. I always thought it was some sort of kid thing.”

“So we should be concerned?”

“Maybe?” He hummed and she rested a hand on the back of his chair, “Not like I’ve ever had kids before.”

They both looked back to see that Robin was stood up, turned towards the door and her head tilted to one side. She narrowed her eyes for a moment before she looked back down at her toys, fell down onto her bottom and picked up one of the trains. She went back to playing and Qrow glanced at the door before looking back at her. “Robin?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“Uh huh,” she hummed before she picked up the Death Stalker again and patted it along the floor towards the train. “I’m okay.”

Leona folded her arms over her chest and said, “You sure, sweetie? What were you just doing?”

“Huh?” she abandoned her toys to stare up at her parents, a look of innocence on her face.

Leona smiled and nodded towards the door, “What were you just doing?”

Robin followed her line of sight, blinked twice and shrugged her shoulder. “I don’t know. Playing.”

“Did you see anything?” Qrow asked.

Robin shook her head and grabbed one of the Hunters. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. Anything?”

She stared at him with a deep frown and stared down at her toys. “No.” She ignored any other questions they had and continued to entertain herself with her toys. Qrow left her to it, sharing a confused look with Leona before he followed her to the bar and poured himself a drink. Leona smacked his chest and nudged him away from the bar with a frown, “When did I say you could help yourself?”

“You didn’t. But you seemed busy.”

“Next time I’ll charge you the family rate.”

“Half price?”

“Double.”

“Harsh,” he mumbled with a small grin.

* * *

Qrow hummed as Robin curled up in his lap and fiddled with the bracelet that matched her own. She was strangely quiet as she gently prodded, pulled and twisted at the fabric, making Qrow’s mind go back to her stood there, staring at the door. He stroked a hand over her back and gently nudged her, “You okay?”

She nodded her head and fell against him, her head butting into his shoulder less than gently. “It is fun hunting?”

“You mean my job?”

She nodded, not meeting his gaze and fiddled with the buttons on his dress shirt. “It is fun? Do you enjoy it?”

“Yeah. I get to help people, defeat the bad guys.”

Robin nodded her head and let out a heavy breath. “I guess that’s okay. Do you see bad stuff?”

Qrow frowned and sat up a little straighter as he tried to figure out what was going through her head. “Sometimes.”

“Is it ever too bad?”

“Too bad?”

“Yeah, too bad. Not fair?”

Qrow threaded his fingers through her hair to try to get her to look at him and he let out a sigh as he nodded his head, “Sometimes, life isn’t fair.”

“Who chooses?”

He shrugged, “Nobody really. We make our own choices and sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re bad. Sometimes we just don’t know until years later.”

“Oh.”

He gave her a moment before he tapped her head, “Something you want to talk about?”

Robin shrugged and chewed on her bottom lip. “Life’s stupid.”

“And why’s that?”

“Cause it’s mean.”

“Why?”

“Cause.”

He raised his brows and finally got her to look at him. “Cause why?”

“Cause you can’t stay here forever and Mommy won’t be here forever and I don’t want her to go. I don’t want you to go away.”

He had no words. He had no idea where this conversation had come from, what had spurred or where it was going. All he could do was pull her to his chest and kiss her forehead. “For as long as I’m alive, I’ll always come back to you. And for as long as your Mom’s alive, I’m sure she’ll do everything to make you happy.”

“But I don’t want you two to go.” She sniffed and Qrow tensed, readying himself for what seemed like was about to happen, “I don’t want to lose any of you.”

“You won’t Little Bird,” he kissed her again, “you won’t.”

“Stop lying,” she whispered, her voice breaking before she burst into tears.

“Shh,” he whispered, holding her to his chest as he rocked her, rubbing soothing circles across her back. “I’m here, I’m here, come on, I’m not going anywhere. Shhh,” he kissed her again, trying to soothe her in some shape or form. He lost track of time as he held her until her sobs became whimpers than quiet cries before she finally quietened down into a snotty snore. He sighed, keeping his hand moving across her back until he was sure she was asleep before he carried her to her bed, tucked her in and placed another kiss to her temple.

Outside of her room Leona waited, a look of worry across her features. “Is she okay?”

Qrow shrugged a shoulder, “I’m sure she’ll be fine in the morning.” Leona glanced into the room, brows furrowed and Qrow nudged her shoulder, “Am I okay to hang around a few extra days?”

“Yeah, of course.” Leona gently pulled the door to, letting a small stream of light into the room. “You never have to ask you know.”

He shrugged, a small smile on his face, “I hear it’s polite to ask.”

“I don’t think you know what that word means.”

“I’m insulted you would think I’m that stupid.”

“Whatever, bird brain.”

He flipped her the bird with a smirk and made his way to his own room. “Call me a bird and you get the bird.”

She shook her head as she strolled to her own room, “Night, Qrow.”

He gave her a small wave and finally ducked into his own room, a heavy sigh leaving him once the door was closed. Robin’s questions had certainly touched something close to home and he slowly started to undress. He really hoped it was one of those childish, morbid curiosities he’d heard about and nothing more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is no fluff in the next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

Qrow almost fell out of the air as he caught a whiff of fire and saw the smoke. It was from Robin’s direction and he pushed himself to fly faster, panic setting into every fibre of his being. The closer he got the louder the mantra of _‘No, no, no, no, no’_ inside his head got. There was no denying it, their village was the one that was overrun by shadows and fire. He dropped back into human form on the edge of the clearing, his weapon drawn and his heart pounding. “Robin!” he shouted, cutting down the first two Grimm that came at him. “Leona!”

He jumped over a fallen wall, ignoring the few bodies that lined the streets. “Robin! Leona!” A Griffon sounded and he ducked back just in time as it dived in front of him. Qrow immediately drew his sword up in a large arc, cutting the creature in two before he descended onto a Boarbatusk. He’d spoken to Robin last night, calming her down after another nightmare and he’d promised her that he would see her today. _‘Please don’t let me be wrong. Please let her be okay.’_

A Death Stalker crashed through a building, turning it into rubble and Qrow dived to one side, rolling out of the way of its stinger. He turned, sword held out in front of him before he jumped over a swinging claw. He took a deep breath and ran head first for its head, diving at the last second so that he went skidding underneath it. He kept his sword out, slicing his way down the soft underside of the Stalker until he finally came out the other side, the Stalker falling down lifeless before it dissipated in a cloud of black smoke.

He made a bee line for _‘Oasis’,_ cutting down anything in his path with little more than a swing. Once he reached the main road he stopped and looked around, orientating himself until he froze, eyes wide and fixed on the burning rubble that used be the Inn. “Robin,” he whispered, a scream in the distance lost on him as he inched forward. “Leona,” he mumbled.

It was the roof collapsing in that stirred him into moving and he scoured the floor with his eyes, hoping that he wasn’t going to find their dead bodies. “Robin!” he shouted, looking towards the alleyways and shelters that would provide some sort of cover from the chaos. “Robin! Le-” he froze, gaze caught on a couple of familiar lumps yards from the burning Inn.

“No,” he mumbled, his feet stumbling into a run before he dropped to his knees between them. Leona’s abdomen was covered in blood, a wound gaping from her stomach and a trickle of blood coming from the corner of her mouth. It looked as though something had skewered her and he watched his shaking hand reach for her neck to confirm what he already knew. There was no pulse and he bit his lip to try to stop the tears that threatened to spill. He didn’t want to look over to Robin, curled up with blood covering her face. He had to shuffle to kneel next to her and he wiped his face, wiping away the tears he couldn’t control. “Robin?” he whispered and he brushed a few stray strands away from her face to see exactly where the blood was from and he wanted to scream. From her jaw to just above her right eye was a deep gash and he hesitated before he looked for a pulse.

Three seconds passed before he collapsed over her, letting out a huge sigh of relief. “Robin,” he choked out, pulling her into his lap, mindful of the wound of her face. “Fuck, I should’ve been here,” he whispered, his voice breaking as he refused to stop the tears. “I should’ve,” he sniffed and he finally looked up at the chaos around them as another building collapsed in the distance. He wiped his face and took a deep breath, his mind running with a thousand thoughts. _What the hell had happened? How many more people were alive? When did it start? Could he have stopped it? Was Robin going to make it? What was he going to do? Would any other Hunters see the smoke and help?_

He finally shook his mind clear and focused on one thing: getting himself and Robin out of here in one piece.

With a deep frown he lifted Robin up and settled her against his chest, her good cheek resting against his shoulder and her head turned away from him. He steadied himself for a moment, listening to her breathing and making sure it was steady before he gave Leona one last look and turned away. There were still Grimm milling about, another Boarbatusk looking over towards him. Qrow glared at it as he held Robin close and backed off down the side of _‘Oasis’,_ his sword in front of him. He glanced over his shoulder, making sure his path was clear before flicking his gaze in front of him to the Boarbatusk that stood off against him.

The land shook beneath his feet and he felt the wind rush past him as something landed behind him. With a concerned look he glanced over his shoulder, and looked up and up and up. A Goliath stood over him, two more behind it and he felt his stomach drop. This was not good. “Crap,” he mumbled.

The Goliath seemed to stare at him for a few moments before it raised a foot and held it over the top of Qrow. “Shit,” he hissed and he put his weapon away, wrapped both arms around Robin and ducked down to roll to one side. He felt the foot strike the ground and he bounced from the aftermath. He rolled once more and felt bricks break around him and the smell of burning wood entered his nose. When he looked up it was to see the inside of ‘ _Oasis’_ and a quick glance back showed him the hole he’d created in the weakened structure. A flaming beam fell next to him and he jumped over it to head to the opposite side. He drew his weapon out, changed it to its gun form and fired off enough shots to start to create another hole and he held it out in front of him as he ran through it, ducking his head to protect Robin.

He fell to one knee, took a few deep breaths and glanced around himself. He had a small chance to get away without having to worry about being chased, bit at or clawed and he put his weapon away again, held Robin with both hands and made a run for the tree line. The sounds of Grimm roars and cracking fire started to quieten down and Qrow slowed down once he stopped smelling the smoke. Running whilst carrying somebody else wasn’t easy, not even with a five year old child and he slowed down to a walk, forcing himself to keep walking until he came upon a clearing with a river cutting it in two. He dropped to his knees against the rivers edge and fell into a sitting position, Robin cradled in his arms.

A whimper came from his chest and he leaned back to look down at Robin’s blood soaked face and it hit him that everything had changed. Leona was dead. No more just visiting her and Robin. No more saying good night through a screen. No more _Oasis_. And Robin’s face. He really hoped it would heal. No five year old deserved that kind of trauma. Groggily Robin opened one red eye than the other, her eyes looking around to take in her surroundings. Another whimper left her as she tilted her head back and met Qrow’s gaze. “Hey Little Bird,” he whispered, scared to speak any louder.

Robin blinked, her right eye flickering with a wince at the action and he watched her bottom lip begin to wobble. “Mom?”

Qrow bit his tongue to steady the tears. Robin sounded so tired, hurt, broken and scared that it terrified him. He stroked a hand through her hair, keeping it out of her face as he slowly shook her head, “Sorry, kiddo. I didn’t get there quick enough.” She gasped with a sharp intake of breath, lifting a hand to grab Qrow’s shirt as she lowered her head. “Come here,” he whispered, pulling her tight against him and feeling her shake. “I’m sorry, pumpkin. I’m so sorry.”

“It- it,” she sniffed and shook her head, “n-n-no-not your f-f- fau-” she choked off the rest of her words with a sob and pulled at his shirt. She howled into his chest and he wasn’t sure if the wetness he felt was her tears or blood or a mixture of both. “Da-d, Mom- Mo- Mom’s g- go-” she sobbed again, a new fit of cries taking over her and Qrow held her as close as he dared, letting her cry as much as she wanted and needed to.

* * *

He draped his cloak over Robin, wincing again at the sight of her face. Once she’d calmed down enough she let him clean up most of the blood on her face. The wound still weeped a little bit and needed better care than he could manage with what little he carried, but it was a start. After a few more quiet, body shaking sobs, she’d tired herself out and collapsed against him, eyes closed and gasping snores filling the air around her.

As she slept he built a fire and grabbed his scroll, his hands finally shaking. Before he knew what he was doing there was a voice speaking in his ear, a very familiar voice that was starting to panic in his ear. _“Qrow! Calm down. Deep breaths. Come on, speak to me, man.”_

“Tai,” Qrow gasped out and he realised that he was panicking. He shivered and his vision slowly blurred, taking him a few seconds to realise that he was crying. “Tai,” he choked out and he shook his head, trying his best to wipe his eyes. “What the fuck do I do? Robin’s hurt, the village is gone, her Mom’s dead, there were Grimm everywhere. She’s still bleeding, she’s a kid. I’m not prepared for this. I don’t know what I’m doing. Is she going to die? I don’t know what to do. I can’t think. I don’t even know what to say to her, I jus-”

“ _Breathe!”_ Qrow gasped, feeling his whole body inflate as he took a large gulp of air. Slowly he let it out through his nose and wiped his face again to rid the remaining evidence. _“Better?”_

He licked his lips and shook his head, “Not really.”

“ _One thing at a time. What happened?”_

He nervously threaded his fingers through his hair and pulled at the roots, the slight pain grounding him to reality. “The village was destroyed, over run by Grimm and fire. By the time I found them, Leona, she, she was dead and Robin, Tai you should see her face. It’s messed up pretty bad. I can’t fix it. I don’t even know how to.”

“ _Okay, okay, just breathe. Breathe. Robin’s alive right?”_

“Yeah, but I-”

“ _So get help. Find the nearest village you can_ -”

Qrow scoffed, “This is Vacuo. The next village which will have any kind of Doctor isn’t for miles.”

“ _Well start heading home, to here. I’ll meet you.”_

Summer was ready to pop with their daughter and Qrow shook his head. If anything happened to Tai then that would push both Summer and him over the edge. “Summer-”

“ _She’ll be fine for a few days and she’ll understand. Right now, you and Robin need help. Just head towards us and I’ll make a direct line for the border. Caelfall. You heard of it?”_

Qrow nodded his head as he swallowed the growing lump in his throat. He dropped his head and stared at the dusty floor, his finger absently drawing circles in the dirt. “Yeah.”

“ _Good, I’ll meet you there with some stuff. They’ve also got a Doctor so get there as quick as you can. Got it?”_

He nodded again, the plan stabilising his panic a little bit. “Yeah, got it.”

“ _Good. I’ll see you there. And Qrow, this wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known that the Grimm would decide to attack.”_

“Yeah,” he whispered and he ended the call, his heart still heavy with guilt and fear. He glanced back over to Robin and winced as he watched her whimper in her sleep. With a heavy sigh he dug his sword into the dirt, splashed some water on his face and took a seat, preparing himself to keep watch. He wasn’t going to let anything else happen to Robin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear what you guys think! Hope you enjoyed. :)


	9. Chapter 9

Patch was definitely different to Vacuo. More green grass than sandy, dry dirt. Less storms and more sunshine. The fact that Robin could almost smell the salty ocean from the house was a bonus. Yang was fun and although the young Xiao Long was still cautious of Robin, she enjoyed playing together. Summer was lovely, dedicating her time between the newly born Ruby, Yang and even Robin. Tai was nice as well, giving Robin his heart and treating her like family. They’d even converted one of the upstairs spare rooms into her own bedroom, giving her her own space.

But it wasn’t home.

She pulled at the grass, scattering the newly pulled strands around her legs as she listened to Summer coo at Ruby whilst Yang swung from Qrow’s arm. Tai was busy cooking some food for everyone and the sun was nice and bright and warm. Robin wiped at her face, pushing the bangs out of her eyes and her fingers brushed across the line that marred her face. At least it no longer hurt to sleep on that side of her face and the angry red marks would hopefully ease off and lose their colour.

It would be wrong to say she didn’t enjoy it in the Xiao Long-Rose-Branwen household. It was a lively environment that anybody would want to live in. But she couldn’t help the feeling that she was trespassing and that she didn’t belong. It felt as though they put up with her out of pity because she had nowhere else to go and sometimes she didn’t want to leave her room. And her Mom wasn’t here. That was the worst of it.

Suddenly she was hoisted into the air and thrown over somebody’s shoulders. “Who have I found here!”

Robin was aware that she’d been hauled over Tai’s shoulders and his fingers started to inch towards her waist. “Don’t!” she shouted but it was too late and his fingers started their assault. She kicked and twisted, trying to get away from him as he tickled her, the cries of laughter being forced from her. “N-No!”

“I don’t understand that word,” he teased as he secured her against his shoulder with one arm and ticked the backs of her knees. “You’re going to have to try that again!”

Yang’s giggles could be heard and Robin slapped at Tai’s back the best that she could. “Stop it! Unca Tai! S-St-top!”

“Magic word?”

“N-now!”

He paused for a moment with a hum before he shrugged a shoulder, “Nah.” His fingers came back, creeping along her sides and just underneath her ribs, getting her most ticklish spot. Just as suddenly as it had started it ended, Tai pulling her back over his shoulder to heft her onto his hips. “Hi there,” he grinned, poking her nose with his finger.

“Hi,” she said.

“How about you come help me finish up in the kitchen little Miss?” He glanced over to Qrow and Robin followed his gaze to see her Father holding Yang upside down by the leg, Yang giggling away as she reached up for his arm. “Qrow!”

“What?” he shrugged. “She likes it.” He glanced down to Yang who giggled, wriggling in his grip and making her body swing slightly as she reached out to try to grab his leg.

Robin giggled and let her head rest on Tai’s shoulder. Times like these helped her to almost forget what had happened just a month ago. “Summer! Can you tell him?”

Summer only laughed and Robin turned her head to watch Summer playfully tell Qrow to put Yang the right way up. Her view was cut off by the door frame and she turned to look at the kitchen. The table in the centre of the room was already decorated for five people plus a baby. The counters were mostly empty, a few chopped piles of vegetables decorating it and waiting to be added to the bubbling pot of stew.

Tai set her down on the counter far enough away from the pot that it wouldn’t splash back onto her and moved to grab the chopping board. He pushed it next to her and said, “You want to add them for me?”

“Okay,” she said and she worked on carefully adding the pile a few pieces at a time, trying her best to avoid it splashing back on her.

Tai stroked his fingers through her hair as he passed her to boil some water and grab some cups. “You okay, Robin?”

She nodded her head and dropped a couple of carrots into the pot, “Yeah.”

“You like it here in Patch?”

She shrugged a shoulder and dropped some cubes of potatoes into the pot. “It’s okay. Dif’rent.”

“I know what you mean. I used to live in Vacuo myself. Then I decided to become a hunter, attended Beacon and met Yang and Ruby’s Mom’s.”

Robin paused to look at him, a small squint in her gaze before she looked out of the window and across the grass to Yang. She looked over at Ruby before looking back to Yang and tilted her head. “Raven?” she whispered.

Tai sighed and Robin turned her attention up to him. He gave her a tight smile and nodded her head, “Yang’s Mom.” He blinked and straightened up, clearing his throat, and grabbed a handful of food himself. He dropped them into the pot and held the handle of the spoon out to Robin. She took it and stirred the food carefully as Tai cautiously went on, “Do you remember what happened yet?”

Robin froze and stared down at the bubbling pot. _The screams had shot through everybody in the Inn, quickly followed by the caw of a Griffon. Something slammed into the wall of the Inn and everybody inside jumped at the sudden thump. “Robin,” Leona whispered, “come here.” She gathered Robin in her arms and crouched behind the bar. “Stay here,” she whispered, reaching for the shotgun she kept stored underneath the bar top._

She rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands and shook her head. She didn’t want to remember. Red eyes. Black feathers. Black skin. The fire. Gun fire. Swords. Blood. She slapped her hands over her ears and screwed her eyes shut, trying to forget the sounds from that day. The nightmares were bad enough and she couldn’t wait for the day that they stopped.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Tai whispered, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against his chest. Robin buried her face against him and clung to his neck as she tried to hide away from it. “Hey, you’re okay. I’m sorry, let’s forget it, okay? You know, Summer was thinking about taking you girls for a shopping day. Get you some new clothes. What do you think about that?”

Robin shrugged, her face still buried in his neck.

“Did we paint your room yet?” She shook her head and Tai hummed as he walked around the kitchen with her on his hips. “What colour do you want?” She shrugged and he stopped. “You don’t know? It’s your room. Your choice.”

She leaned back in his arms and finally looked up at him. “Am I staying?”

He pulled a face and shook his head dramatically, “Are you staying? Of course you are! Why wouldn’t you be staying?”

Robin shrugged and looked away as she muttered, “Cause it’s your fam-e-we and I’m not.”

Tai chuckled at that. “Of course you are. You belong here just like I do. We’re not going to get bored of you and kick you out. We’re not going to drop you off at an orphanage and tell you enoughs enough. You’re here to stay.” He poked her belly and Robin flinched, trying her damnedest not to smile. “Have you been worried about that? Is that why you’ve been quiet?” He poked her again and a smile crept out. She tried to push him away and Tai grinned, “Well you’re stuck with us whether you like it or not.”

He wriggled his fingers against her belly and Robin laughed once before she threw herself at his neck. “Stop it,” she mumbled, voice muffled slightly by his shoulder.

“It’s alright to feel sad sometimes,” he whispered. “What happened to you wasn’t nice, but don’t feel like you can’t enjoy things. I don’t want you to think that you can’t talk to us or come to me or Sum’ and cry. We want you to cry on our shoulder, feel comfortable enough to want to curl up with us. We want you to feel like you belong here, because you do. You’re family and you just have to live with us from now on. This is your new home and I want you to feel safe here and comfortable. We want you to be you, open up and show us the smiles and laughs we know you’re hiding from us. Okay?” He nudged his shoulder against her and leaned back to get her to look at him. He held his hand up and held out a pinky finger. She eyed it suspiciously, the corner of her eyes wet and she wiped at them. Tai grinned at her and nodded his head, “You ever heard of a pinky promise?” Robin nodded her head and held her hand out in a similar fashion. “Pinky promises can’t be broken. They’re the strongest of promises and I want you to pinky promise me that if you’re feeling sad again, you talk to me. Or Summer. Don’t hesitate. Even if you have to grab our hand and drag us into another room, promise me that you’ll let us know okay?”

Robin bit her lip and stared at his finger for twenty seconds before she locked their fingers together, sniffed and shook their hands together. “I pwomise.”

“Good,” he kissed her temple and set her back down onto the counter. “Now, let’s finish this food. And remind me to put extra chilli peppers on your Dad’s food. Payback for cutting holes in my shorts.”

Robin giggled and nodded her head. It wasn’t the same family and home she’d come to know and love, but she was willing to give them a chance to become her new ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear what you guys think! Hope you enjoyed :)


	10. Chapter 10

Robin refused to look at anyone. She sat, arms folded and scowl firmly in place, glaring at the couch arm. She could feel her Dad staring at her, his own arms folded and one brow raised as he waited for any response from her. But she wasn’t going to explain herself again, she didn’t have to. “Robin,” Qrow started. She huffed and tried to cross her arms even more. He sighed and the couch dipped next to her, “We’re not going anywhere until you talk, you know that right?”

She stuck her tongue out and curled up on herself, bringing her knees to her chest. It was her first week at nursery and already she hated it. There was a girl, Violet, who had immediately pointed and whispered at Robin since she first entered the classroom. By the time first break came around all the kids had whispered behind her back and one of the boys had even laughed in her face before shoving her to one side as he pushed past her. By day three she heard the whispers, about the mark on her face and rumours of where she was from. By day five she’d had enough and reacted to the chant from Violet of, “Mama dropped you! Mama dropped you! Mama dropped you!” by punching the girl in the face and causing a nose bleed. Violet had started crying, the jibes turned to shocked whispered and the teachers immediately sent her to the Headteachers office as both of their parents were called. As much as Robin had tried to explain herself, when the teachers had asked her for an apology she’d refused and that had been the final straw to sending her home.

Which was where they were now, Robin refusing to acknowledge anyone or anything and Qrow with his hands in his lap as he tried to get her to talk. “The longer you go without saying anything the worse it gets.” She lifted one shoulder and let it drop dramatically before turning her back on him. Qrow really hoped that this wasn’t a sign of what was to come in the future years. He sighed and turned to rest his elbow on the back of the couch, his head in his hand and poked her back with his other hand. “I know why you did it.”

“S’why am I being pun’shed?” she grumbled out, still refusing to look at him.

He sighed and tugged gently on her arm, “Cause for teachers, doing something is a lot worse than saying something.” She turned to face the room and Qrow took that as a victory. “You going to talk to me now?” She gave another shrug and he mentally shrugged his own shoulders. At least she’d spoken to him since they’d been dismissed from the nursery. Whilst Robin had been sat waiting as he’d been given a run down of what had happened, he’d bit back with the fact that Robin had come home in tears twice. When he heard the full story he’d immediately asked if this Violet girl was going to get some sort of telling off, to which the short answer had been no.

“Do I have to go back?” she whispered.

He sighed and titled his head to try to see where she was looking. Her red eyes were fixed on her folded arms and he ruffled her hair, “You shouldn’t be punching people.”

“But she-”

Qrow held a hand up and Robin deflated at the motion. “Robin, we don’t punch people. I know what she was doing and saying and I’ve spoken to your teachers and her parents about that, but punching her for saying something isn’t the right thing.”

She stared at him for a few seconds before she slouched in her seat and drew her knees up to her chest. “M’not sorry.”

He ruffled her hair with a small chuckle, “You wouldn’t be mine if you were. Wanna hear a secret?” She brightened up at that, peering over her knees at him. “Just cause you say it doesn’t mean you mean it. All they want to hear is you say ‘Sorry’. They don’t know that you don’t mean it.”

“Qrow!”

Both Robin and Qrow jumped as Summer came stomping around the corner, a look of fury on her face. It was Qrow’s turn to shrink into the couch as he tried to get away from that glare of his leaders. “Hey, Sum’ what’s-”

“Don’t,” Summer started, one finger pointed dangerously in Qrow’s direction, “even try to sweet talk your way outta this.” He audibly swallowed and Robin bit her lip, glad it was her Dad and not her dealing with Summer’s wrath. “What have I said about teaching her morals, _good_ morals. Not cheap stuff.”

“I’m not wro-”

“Don’t you dare.”

Qrow shrank in his seat and side lined Robin. He cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter, trying his best to ignore Summer in his peripheral vision. “Robin, you need to apologise for punching Violet in the face. Whenever we have a problem we need to talk it out, sometimes,” he glanced at Summer, watching her nod of approval before continuing on, “we need to go to authority figures. They may be teachers, officers, parents. But we don’t just start with violence. It’s never good to start with violence.”

Robin glanced from Qrow to Summer and eyed the woman’s wide smile and innocent expression. For a moment, she was convinced that the Summer that had just stormed in here and all but tore Qrow apart with her eyes had been a figment of her imagination. She ducked her head and slowly nodded. There was no getting out of this. “’Kay,” she muttered, “I won’t do it again and I’ll say sowwy.”

Qrow ruffled her hair again and this time a small smile crept onto his face. “Are we friends again?”

Robin glanced at him, peeked up at Summer to seek her nod before she turned and threw herself at Qrow and clung to his neck. She nodded her head and squeezed her arms, “Sowwy.”

“If I ever hear you saying something like that again,” Summer started and Robin could feel the finger pointed over her shoulder, “I’ll do things that can never be repeated again.”

Robin finally turned her head to see Summer storm out and the moment the older woman was out of sight she stepped back and brushed her hair out of her eyes. Qrow turned to look at her and raised one brow. “Are you really sorry?”

She tilted her head to one side and gave it some thought before she shook her head with a small smirk, “Nope.”

He narrowed his eyes for a moment before he grinned and nodded his head, “You’re a quick learner. Come on, let’s get some ice cream. Just promise me you’ll tell somebody before you think about punching them.”

Robin jumped onto the floor and nodded her head, “Pwomise. Talk then punch.”

He sighed and shook his head as he followed her to the kitchen, “Close enough.”


	11. Chapter 11

Summer double and triple checked that she had everything that she needed. Satisfied she grabbed her bag and took it downstairs, setting it next to the front door. It was going to be a long week of travelling to the other side of Mistral. She hummed to herself as she ventured into the kitchen, taking in the sight of two year old Ruby and Yang enjoying their morning pancakes, courtesy of Tai who was busy making some for himself, Qrow and her. Qrow was sat on Robin’s other side, his head propped in his hand and his eyes barely open. He’d just gotten back from his own mission and had yet to go to bed, Tai insisting he eat something proper before snoozing the rest of the day away and Robin looked almost equally as tired with a big yawn before she shovelled a forkful of pancake into her mouth.

Summer couldn’t stop her yawn and she rubbed a hand over her face. Robin had had another nightmare last night, this time insisting on having Summer’s attention as she cried about her not coming back from her mission. It had taken almost an hour to calm her down and get her to fall asleep again, only after Summer promised to not leave her side whilst she slept.

“Summer,” Tai said, “did you want rabbits as well?”

“Why would I want anything else?”

“Wabbits!” Yang shouted and Ruby giggled as she held a half eaten pancake between her small fingers. Robin grinned up at Summer and went back to her small stacks. “You ‘ould ‘ave erm- da ‘ink ‘ens.”

“The pink ones?” Sumer said, taking the free seat on Ruby’s other side. “Strawberry? I love strawberries. Did Daddy save me some?”

Tai chuckled and set a plate with two pink rabbit shaped pancakes in front of her, “Considering strawberry is your favourite,” he pecked her lips, “of course.”

“Eww,” Yang mumbled, blowing a raspberry out at the same time.

Ruby giggled and tried to blow a raspberry herself. That made Yang giggle and Summer blew her own raspberry back at the pair. Robin glanced over at Summer and she met her gaze, trying for a reassuring smile but Robin only looked away and stabbed at her pancakes.

“When comin’ back?” Yang quipped before she tore the ear off of one of her rabbits.

Summer hummed and cut the ear off her own rabbit, “I’m away for 1 week, but there’s enough cookies for everyone to have 1 a day.”

“Make more when back?”

She nodded her head, “Of course we can, Yang. What flavour?”

“’Oney!”

“Honey it is.” She looked up to see Robin whispering something to Qrow who glanced at Summer before whispering something back to Robin. She didn’t seem convinced and she pushed her plate away and made her way over to Summer. She tugged on her cloak and Summer glanced down at her with a raised brow, “Hey, Robin, you feeling better this morning?”

Robin shook her head and climbed onto the empty chair next to her. She leaned over and climbed into her lap before wrapping her arms around her neck and burying her face in her neck, “Please don’t go. How can I make you stay?”

Summer wrapped her arms around her and gave her a tight hug. “I’ll be fine.”

Robin sniffed and shook her head and Summer wanted to cry at the begging tone in the girls next word, “Please?”

Before Summer had a chance to respond Robin was being plucked from her arms by Qrow who settled Robin onto his hip and took her outside. “Enjoy your breakfast,” he waved over his shoulder, “Come on Robin, let’s talk.”

Tai took his seat next to Summer and glanced towards Qrow’s back, “She still not happy?”

Summer sighed and stabbed at her pancakes, “Maybe I should stay here.”

“Is Wobin ‘azy?”

“No,” Tai said, “she’s not crazy, Yang. She’s just had a really bad nightmare. Remember your nightmare with the spider and grasshopper?” Yang shrunk into her seat, her face paling at the memory and she slowly nodded her head. “She’s just had a different bad dream.” He wrapped an arm around Summer’s shoulders and tugged her against his side into a hug, “You’ve been waiting to go on this mission forever, Sum. She’s probably just letting it get to her.”

* * *

Qrow sat down on one of the fallen logs and set Robin down next to him. She wiped at her face and he ran a hand through her hair before he yawned and said, “What’s going on?”

She avoided looking at him as she shrugged and wrung her hands together, “I don’t want Summer to go. I don’t think it’ll be good.”

“And why’s that?”

“Cause, it won’t be. She’ll get hurt.”

He raised a brow at her certainty. He was aware of the nightmare she'd had, Tai having filled him in, and he'd hoped that it was something she would just get over. “Sweetie, it’s a risk of the job. Sometimes we get hurt, sometimes we don’t.”

Robin sat up on her knees and grabbed onto her Father’s arm. “You don’t understand. She won’t come back. I don’t want her to not come back.”

“Hey, where’s this coming from?”

She stared at him for a moment before she sank back onto her knees and stared at her hands still on his arm. She shrugged and finally said, “I don’t know. I just don’t want her to go and nobody listened to me last time.”

"Last time?" 

"With Mom. You and her didn't listen to me." 

He stared at her, his mind running back to over a year ago, to the week of midnight phone calls from Leona because Robin had woken up screaming and begging him to come to them every night. She'd cry and beg Leona to leave home, just for a little while. They'd both put it down to the increase in Grimm presence near  _Oasis_ and how there were more rumours travelling around the Inn's customers. Leona had warned everybody to keep their mouths shut and had Qrow's help in reassuring Robin that it was nothing but her childish imagination getting carried away. The first days after he'd made it back to Patch Robin had cried, telling him that nobody had listened to her. At the time he'd brushed it off, but now he really questioned exactly what was going through her mind. He shook his head and told himself that it was just some weird kid thing. He'd heard stories of kids standing by their parents as they slept, whispering the creepiest of things when they woke up, stories of children coming out with impossible notions and he put it down to that. There wasn't any other explanation for her outbursts, there couldn't be.

He sighed and scooped her up into his lap, “You don’t know that anything will happen.”

“And you don’t know that something won’t.”

He took a breath and slowly let it out. “You’ll see in a weeks time when she comes back that you were getting worried over nothing. Okay?”

She didn’t look at him again and slowly nodded her head. There was an air of defeatedness that made Qrow feel guilty, but this was Summer they were talking about. She was the strongest out of all of them. And it was a simple mission, go in, clear out some Grimm and re-establish a base and come home. “Come on,” he mumbled, hiding a yawn behind his hand, “let’s go say goodbye and we’ll see her in a week’s time.” He picked her up and carried her back into the house, a small apology to Summer and a smile on his lips. Everything would be okay, it had to be.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference:   
> Ruby is 3  
> Yang is 5  
> Robin is 8

Robin perched her bottom on the top step and scooted forward to fit her head between the banister posts, her hands wrapped firmly around them as she listened to her Dad and Uncle Tai talk. It had been five months since Summer’s last mission and things hadn’t been the best. Yang had gotten upset every time she remembered Summer wasn’t coming home. Tai could be heard crying in his room when he thought that everybody was asleep and her Dad had started drinking. He tried to hide it the best that he could but in a house of three growing, inquisitive children it was near impossible.

“I got a position teaching at Signal.”

“You didn’t have to.”

Qrow scoffed, “Yeah I did.”

“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”

“Oh come on, Tai, don’t be dumb. You’re struggling. They’re struggling, we’re _all_ struggling.”

“I’m handling it!”

“Just about!” There was the sound of the kitchen table being shoved against and Robin bit her bottom lip. “Tai-”

“Shut up, just- just shut up.” She wiped at her eyes at the defeated tone that came from Tai’s mouth and tried to keep everything together. Qrow had been taking shorter and shorter missions, trying his best to stay away for four days at most. Tai hadn’t been terrible at keeping the household together, but his smiles had definitely dulled and he was working more on autopilot than anything else. It was a very noticeable difference.

Somebody sniffed and there was the sound of a chair being pulled out before Tai sighed and there was a thump on the table. “I know,” Tai mumbled, his words cracking slightly. “I know, I- I just, she’s not coming back. I keep thinking Sum’ will just walk through the door like nothing happened but then I remember, and I, it’s like everything just stops and I can’t move on.”

Another chair was pulled out and it was Qrow’s turn to sigh. “I know, Tai. Believe me, I know. I wish I’d run after her, gone with her or something other than just let her go.”

“That makes two of us.”

“But you’ve got to pull yourself together.” There the sound of a small growl, “I know how you feel, but there’s three girls in this house who need us. _Both_ of us. Whatever funk you’re in, you need to snap out of it.”

“Like you’re one to talk. What about the drinking?”

“At least I’m functioning.”

“Wobin?”

She snapped her head up at the whisper of her name to see Yang stood in the doorway to her bedroom, one hand rubbing at her eyes and pigtails messy from sleep. Robin did her best to silently creep away from her listening post, wincing at the small creak the top step gave.“Hey, Yang,” she whispered, “what’s up?”

“I had a ‘ad ‘eam.”

She let out a small breath and did her best to smile, “Want me to stay with you?” The young Xiao Long nodded her head and Robin followed her back into her bedroom, pushing the door to as Yang liked it. They climbed into bed and Robin wrapped her arms around Yang who snuggled into her chest and she closed her own eyes. Even Yang had been subdued since it was official that Summer wasn’t coming back and Robin rubbed a circle across her back as she shuffled about. There was some more shuffling before Robin said, “Wanna talk?”

“Ca’ we go owt?”

“Yeah,” she sighed, “tomorrow we’ll go down to the river and we’ll try to catch the fishes.”

“Okay.”

She kissed Yang’s head and sighed as she settled down herself, “Go to sleep.”

* * *

Robin peered up at Qrow and Tai, who were both grinning at the three of them, a basket in Qrow’s hands. Ruby smacked her teddy onto the floor and Yang stopped playing with her to look up at their parents as well. “Wha’ go’ on?”

“We,” Tai started, “are going out?”

Yang jumped up and ran to Tai’s legs, catching onto the fabric with her hands and she grinned, “Da’ river?”

“Yep,” Qrow said, picking her up to bring up to eye level. He poked her nose and said, “we need a day out. The five of us.”

“Yay!”

Ruby peered up then at the sudden noise and threw her arms up, a wide grin on her own face. Tai chuckled and leaned down to pick up the three year old child. “Yay indeed,” he said and he settled Ruby onto his hips. He looked over at Robin and held a hand out to her, “You coming with us?”

She grinned and grabbed his hand, letting him tug her to her feet.

Twenty minutes later and Yang and Tai were in ankle deep water, hands occasionally dipping underneath the water to try to grab the fish. Qrow was looking after Ruby on the blanket, making sure she didn’t go too far away as she practiced her walking and Robin sat on her knees, eating one of the peanut butter sandwiches that had been put together.

“So,” Qrow said, his hands out in front of him as Ruby held onto his fingers, “were you the one creeping on us last night or did I imagine that?”

Robin swallowed her mouthful of food and pointed at Ruby, “She can’t get out of her bedroom.”

Qrow retrieved one hand from Ruby’s grasp to poke Robin’s side. He wrapped his free arm around her and tickled his fingers against her stomach. “Somebody thinks she’s clever.”

Robin wriggled around, squirming in her Dad’s grip whilst Ruby babbled to herself before she fell onto her bottom. “I am clever.”

Qrow finally released her and turned Ruby onto her stomach, letting the three year old crawl for a little bit. “Are you doing okay?” He let Ruby get just far enough away so that he could grab her feet and pull her back to let her crawl away again.

She nodded her head and fell against his side, sandwich somehow still in her hand, “Yeah.”

“You being honest?”

She ducked her head and picked at the crust with a slow shrug. “I don’t know.”

“Hey,” he muttered, pulling Ruby back again before he pulled Robin into his lap. He leaned over her so that he could still grab Ruby and he kissed her crown. “It’s bad to eavesdrop.”

She stuck her tongue out and threw the sandwich up into his face, smashing it against his mouth, “You ea’esdrop.”

He took a large bite and stood Ruby up onto her feet again before he swallowed his mouthful of food. “You need to be honest with me if you’re not doing okay.” Robin shrugged and tried to bury herself back into his chest. “Have you had any more dreams?” She shook her head and he kissed her head, “I promise to listen next time. No matter what it is, I’ll listen okay.”

She nodded her head and wiped at her face. It wasn’t the best time to have made that promise but she would take it. Next time it wouldn’t happen and next time she wouldn’t be ignored. “Dad,” she started and she tilted her head back to look up at him. He tilted his head to look down at her with a raised brow and she slowly said, “there’s this boy at school who draws these stupid pictures of me and laughs at me and my face. Can I punch him? I thought about it really hard.”

His face cracked into a grin and he shook his head, “I’ll think about it. Let’s not punch him yet.”

“Oh, I was going to do it on Monday.”

“At least you’re honest about something.”

She grinned up at him and leaned up to peck his chin, “Something.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, that first part was difficult to write but I tried to make it somewhat happier towards the end. That's something right?


	13. Chapter 13

Qrow dug his fingers around the bottom of the bowl, looking for any pieces of popcorn that had been missed. He was only half paying attention to the film, one that he’d seen three times at least thanks to Summer, and was focused entirely on trying to get Tai to giggle with him at any inappropriate reference. So far it was twelve to fifteen to himself, all three girls blissfully unaware of the quiet competition going on behind them.

Yang had chosen the movie and insisted their parents letting them have their duvets on the living room floor, complete with all of the pillows they could hold. Qrow and Tai had insisted on staying on the couch and made the girls promise that as long as they didn’t get any food on the floor then they didn’t mind. Ruby was wrapped up in her favourite red blanket whilst Yang was cuddling her Ursa teddy to her chest. Robin had wrapped her blue blanket around her shoulders and had her back pressed against the couch and between Qrow’s legs, Ruby between her own legs.

They were about half way through the film and Ruby was dropping off first, curling up against Robin’s chest, her blanket firmly tucked underneath her chin. Yang had settled between a pile of six pillows, one of them tucked against her chest as she fought the clutches of sleep. Robin was still wide awake, a bowl of almost empty popcorn perched on top of Ruby’s shoulder as she picked from it.

By the time the film was over Yang was sprawled across the floor on her back, one pillow on her stomach and a light snore coming from her. Ruby was still wrapped in a bundle of red, a small line of drool coming from the corner of her mouth. Robin was slumped over to one side, her head knocking against Qrow’s leg as she hugged it to her side with one arm.

Tai flicked the TV off and stood up with a stretch. “Fancy leaving them here?”

Qrow snorted and gestured to his leg, “I would if I could escape.”

Tai chuckled and leaned down to pluck Ruby from Robin’s lap. The young girl stirred a little before she snuggled up against Tai’s neck with a small mumble. “Shh,” Tai whispered as he stepped across the duvets to lay Ruby down in a free space. He tugged her blanket across her and moved back to gently pry Robin’s arm from around Qrow’s leg. Qrow held her up and helped Tai in easing the girl to the floor, her own blanket covering her.

Qrow stepped away and looked over the girls for a few seconds before he let out a small sigh of relief. He grabbed one bowl as Tai grabbed the other and followed him to the kitchen. He poured the kernels into the bin and held the bowl out to Tai to wash, his mind going over how everybody was still in some kind of funk. They’d gotten better but they still had their moments and as he watched Tai wash the second bowl he took a look over the other Hunter. They all needed a pick me up, something more permanent then a day away from home and he only had to think for one minute before it came to him. “See you in the morning, Tai,” he said, patting him on the shoulder as he left, already thinking up of an excuse to leave the house tomorrow without raising suspicion.

* * *

Tai raised a brow at Qrow’s empty bedroom and he peered out of the window. The guy was supposed to let him know if he was going to take a job on a weekend and even if something did turn up last minute Qrow would let him know. The window was still locked, so that idea was down the drain. “Hey girls!” he shouted as he started back down stairs, “has anyone seen Qrow this morning?”

“No,” Ruby muttered whilst Yang shook her head, spoon still in her mouth and Robin shrugged her shoulders.

He pulled a face and decided to make a start on his own breakfast. Qrow was an adult, he reminded himself, and he was obligated to do what he wanted as much as Tai was. He finished his own breakfast and told the girls to behave themselves in the garden whilst he cleaned up and he hummed to himself, watching them out of the kitchen window with a tight smile. Ruby looked so much like Summer that Tai sometimes did a double take and Yang was starting to become so strong spirited and determined at school that he could see parts of Raven within her.

He sighed and pulled the plug in the sink, letting the water drain. It hurt him to think that he could see both of their parents within them, but he was proud that he could. At heart, Summer and Raven weren’t lost or gone and he couldn’t be happier. It would just be a lot easier if he didn’t have to do this alone, or alone with Qrow.

Screaming from outside made him jerk his head up and he stared out of the window to see all three girls run to the right hand side of the house and he panicked. Grimm weren’t uncommon on Patch, but it was unusual for any to get this close and his mind went into over drive. If anything happened to them he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. “Girls!” he shouted as he barged through the back door, turned and froze. The screaming had turned into laughter as a black and white corgi puppy ran circles around Yang and Robin as Ruby tried to chase after it. Qrow stood back, a grin on his face and a bag by his feet. Tai was still trying to process the scene as the corgi ran up to Tai, circled his legs a few times before it fell onto its side, tongue lolled to one side as it tried to catch its breath. Ruby fell on top of it, wrapping her arms around it with happy squeals.

“Can we keep it? Can we? Can we?” Yang chimed, jumping up at Tai’s side as she tugged on his hand. “Pwease? Pwease?”

“Doggy!” Ruby shouted.

Robin grinned as she fell onto her knees next to the dog and Ruby and she scratched it behind its ear, earning a happy rumble from the pup. “He’s so cute!”

Tai looked back up at Qrow with a raised brow and could only manage the word, “Huh?”

Qrow chuckled and held the bag out to Tai, “You’re in charge of naming it. I don’t trust any of them to come up with something we’d be happy to call it.”

“What?” he said, taking the bag without even thinking. Inside were two bowls, some food and a bunch of toys. “What?”

“Does that mean we can keep it?” Robin asked, turning hopeful eyes up to Qrow.

He nodded his head, “Well I want to say yes. And it’s a boy.”

“Good boy, good boy,” Yang sang as she rubbed his belly.

Tai looked back down and held his hands out, “Well I can’t say no now can I?”

Qrow shrugged his shoulders with a smug grin and walked past him, “Did you save me any breakfast?”

“Qrow!”

“What’s he called?” Yang asked.

“Puppy!” Ruby called out.

“Patches,” Robin said and Yang pulled a face. “He’s got patches. It’s better than Puppy.”

“He should be called Smudge.”

Now Robin pulled a face and she blew a raspberry, “Gross. No.”

Tai wasn’t awake enough for this and he trudged back inside, taking the bag with him. Qrow was sat on the counter, a bowl of cereal in his hands and he watched Tai with one raised brow. “Why?” Tai asked, tossing the bag onto the counter next to him. Qrow only shrugged again, the same smug grin still on his face. “You couldn’t have asked first?”

Qrow swallowed his mouthful of food and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, “He’s cute and the girls love him. And you’ll love him too. I don’t think it knows what sad even means.”

“Just how long have you been thinking about getting a dog?”

“Not long. I’ve seen that dog everyday for the past month now, sat in the pet store window, just begging everybody to take it. So I took it.”

“I hope you paid for him at least.”

Qrow rolled his eyes, “Yes. He’s paid for.”

* * *

Tai sighed as he finally made it back downstairs. Ruby and Yang had insisted on falling asleep next to the new puppy, still unnamed, and Tai had enlisted Qrow’s help in carrying each of them upstairs to their respective bedrooms, giving the dog a break from them. He fell back onto the couch, his head leaning over the back of it as he let his arms stretch out on either side of him. He was alone in the quiet house, Qrow having disappeared to bed with the note that he’d gotten up way too early today and Tai had just waved him away.

Something jumped onto his lap and he jumped himself before he looked down to see the pup sitting in his lap and staring up at him with a dumb, happy face. It barked once before it turned in a circle and made himself comfortable on Tai’s lap, laying down with his head on his paws. Tai let out a slow breath and gently rested a hand on top of his head, letting his fingers idly scratch behind his ear.

Maybe the dog was cute and maybe he could get used to hearing the girls laugh as much as they had done today. “What to name you,” Tai mused, already giving in to the fact that he couldn’t take the dog away from them now. The pup rolled onto his side and Tai chuckled as he scratched its belly. “Okay, you’re cute, I’ll give you that.” After a few minutes of belly scratches Tai stopped and titled his head to one side, “Zwei. What about that for a name? Zwei.”

The pup looked up at him with his stupidly happy face again, yipped once and got up to jump onto Tai’s chest and lick at his face. Tai chuckled, battling the pup to push it back into his lap, “Okay, okay, stop.” Zwei sat back down and Tai smiled as he stroked his head a few more times. “Zwei, guess there’s no going back now that you have a name. Just don’t poop on the carpets.”


	14. Chapter 14

Robin fell back with an ‘Oomph’, the stick falling from her hands. She rubbed at her knee and looked up at Tai with a grumble. He grinned at her and held his hand out to help her to her feet. “Don’t take it too hard, kid, you’ve got plenty of time to learn.”

She let him pull her to her feet and shrugged a shoulder as she reached down for the stick. “I need to be better.”

“Just because Qrow’s a teacher at Signal doesn’t mean you need to be the best.”

She glared up at him and held the stick firmly with both hands. Since she’d started at Signal it had been difficult to make a real name for herself. She hadn’t even set foot in his classroom but everybody had put the two and two together and had expected the world of her. She hadn’t wanted to be the best, but everybody expected the best from her and she was a long way from it. “I didn’t say the best,” she grumbled, “just better.”

Tai raised a brow before he settled with a smile and raised his fists. “Okay, well let’s go then.”

Robin held the stick in front of her as she ran to him. He started with a right hook and she rolled underneath his arm, dug the stick into the floor to bring herself to a stop and turned to face him again. He was already coming at her with a left kick and she jumped back and brought the stick up to block the right swing and dug her feet in, getting herself pushed back several feet with a grunt. Once she had some space she took a swing with the stick, trying to take his legs out but he jumped over it, pushed himself up and threw another punch at her. She gasped, dropped to her knees and rushed forward underneath his arm, shouldering herself into his stomach.

“Neat trick,” Tai commented before he lifted his knee and threw her to one side, making her roll with another grunt as she finally came to a stop, her eyes looking up at the sky. She let out a breath and groaned, throwing her arms out to the side.

A few seconds later Zwei appeared in her vision, his tongue coming out from one side of his mouth. “Hey, Zwei.” The dog yipped and licked her face, wiping the grimace from her face. “Alright,” she laughed, “stop, stop.” Zwei jumped into her lap and she sat up, trying to push the dog away from her with a chuckle.

Eventually Zwei relented, resorting to parking his butt on the floor with happy pants as Tai appeared with a bottle of water held out to her. She glanced up at him, took the water and looked away again. “I think we’ll call it a day there.”

“I can still fight.”

“It’s not a question of if you _can_ still fight, it’s knowing when not to strain yourself. You’ve only just started at Signal, Robin. You’ve got a long way to go, a lot of time to get better so pace yourself and stop being too harsh on yourself.”

She flicked her eyes up to him and held his gaze for a few seconds before she looked away. “I just want to be good.”

Tai chuckled and took a seat next to her. “If you’re anything like Qrow you’ll be something to be scared of.” She lifted her shoulders to try to hide her face from him as she turned away. “Was it something I said?”

Robin took a large gulp of water and shook her head, doing her best to ignore him. “It’s nothing.”

“Spill before I tickle it out of you.”

Robin threw herself back down and glared up at the sky. “I _h_ _ave_ to be better, I’m a _Branwen_.”

She heard him sigh before he appeared over her, “It that was this is about?” She turned her head away and pulled a face. “Robin-”

“What? Everyone says it.”

“Robin, you shouldn’t let what everyone says get to you.”

“Kinda hard not to”

“Pfft, he’s not all that. Did he ever tell you that when he joined beacon me and Summer had to retrain him and Raven. It was like trying to house train a pair of dogs that had been left to roam the woods.”

Robin couldn’t help the small smirk that brought to her. “That does make me feel better.” She sat back up and grabbed her water bottle, settling it between both hands as the smile slowly dropped from her face. “Everybody expects me to be the best cause he’s my Dad and a teacher. It’s annoying but no matter what I say nothing I do is good enough. Everything is scrutinised and criticised, I don’t even know if anybody even likes me and if that’s because of him or the stupid scar on my face. _That_ is something else entirely.”

Tai wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged her against his side and ruffled her hair with his other hand. “So that’s why you’ve been bugging me to train and practice with you and why you’ve been avoiding Qrow. You want some honesty? Kids can be terrible, and you’ve only been in Signal for four months. You’ve got three and a half more years of practice, training and people to meet. Plus you’ve still got to make your own weapon, that’s the cool thing about Signal, you make it your own and it becomes a part of you. Not all of us were great to start with. It took me three years of practice before I finally got a handle on my fighting technique and using it with my Semblance. Three painful years of people telling me to throw in the towel and that I won’t make it. Like you I’m from Vacuo, so I know how important it is to be able to fight and protect yourself. It won’t happen overnight but you will get stronger, faster and better. It’s getting back up and showing everyone out there that they’re wrong. Now,” he gave her a small squeeze and finally released her, “as to the name thing, a name is what you make of it. It’s what you show people it means to be a Branwen and you make it your own, so be proud of that name because one day people will hear that name and think of you, not him.”

Robin wiped at her face and played with the label on her water bottle. “You’re good at pep talks.”

Tai laughed and patted her back, “I’ll make you a deal. If you can land me on my butt before you leave Signal, I’ll teach you how to beat Qrow’s butt. Deal?”

She stared at his outstretched hand for a moment before she nodded her head with a small smile, “Deal. And I want to see those pictures of him in a skirt.”

“Oh trust me, there’s plenty of those.”

Robin grinned and brushed her hair out of her face. As much as she hated to admit it, Tai was right. She made a mental promise to repeat those words whenever she doubted herself to force herself to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. She joined Signal to become a Huntress, to help people and to help those who couldn't help themselves and she wasn't going to fail. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead. I got distracted binge watching My Hero Academia. Oops.


	15. Chapter 15

Robin hummed as she brushed Ruby’s hair. The little girl had a knack for getting her hair knotted at least three times a day and so it had become routine for Robin to brush the knots out of her hair just before dinner, getting her ready for the afternoon before somebody brushed her hair for bedtime. Yang was busy trying to get Qrow to fight her some more, having gotten a handle on how her semblance worked, whilst Tai prepared some food for everyone.

Robin brushed the last knot out of Ruby’s hair and set the brush down, tucking the hair behind the little girls ears as she smoothed it down. When she looked down to her face she frowned at the deep furrow and poked Ruby’s ribs, “What’s up, Flower?”

“What was my Mom like?”

She blinked, and blinked again as Ruby lifted her chin to meet her gaze. There was some kind of sadness in her silver eyes and Robin leaned forward to grab Ruby’s face in both of her hands and smiled warmly at her. “Summer was sweet, gentle, kind, strong and she put our Dad’s in line.”

Ruby rolled her eyes and pushed Robin’s hands away, “I know that stuff. I mean the other stuff.”

“Baker of best cookies ever.” That earned her a small smile and Robin grabbed Ruby by the waist and pulled her into her lap, brushing her hair away from her face. “Summer gave everybody a chance. She believed that there was good in everyone and that’s rare, most people think twice before trusting anyone but your Mom accepted everyone with open arms. She had such a big, warm heart that all she wanted to do was share it with everybody and she hated to see anybody sad or down.”

“What did she look like?”

Robin tilted her head to one side with a raised brow, “I thought your Dad gave you a picture?”

“It’s just a picture,” Ruby looked away again, her hands in her laps as she fiddled her thumbs together, “It’s not real so I feel like I don’t really know.”

Robin stroked her fingers through Ruby’s hair with a small sigh for several silent seconds as she tried to come up with the best way to show Ruby what Summer looked like before an idea came to mind. She stood up, pushing Ruby to her feet and dragged her to the bathroom. She grabbed the step stool and lifted Ruby onto it so that the eight year old could see into the mirror. “What are you doing?”

“Shhh,” Robin said as she turned Ruby’s head to look into the mirror. “You, Ruby Rose, look exactly like your Mother. From the black hair,” she twirled a strand of hair around her fingers and poked her cheeks, “to your cheeks and even your silver eyes, looking at you is like looking at Summer. If you ever want to remember what your Mom looked like, just look in a mirror and she’s right there.”

Ruby stared at her reflection for several long seconds, a hand straying to her face as she stroked over her cheek and chin, touched her nose and messed with her hair. Robin was distracted with looking over her own reflection of rusty red eyes and jet black hair that she jumped when she felt a finger jab at her face. She turned to see Ruby staring at her with a small smile, “What was your Mom like?”

“My Mom?”

Ruby nodded her head, “Yeah. Qrow doesn’t say much and you don’t talk about her. Does she look like you?”

Robin couldn’t help the chuckle and raised a brow, “Now you and I both know that I take far too much after my Dad. My Mom she, she,” she took a deep breath and dropped her gaze to the sink edge. “She had these angry green eyes and golden blonde hair. A bit like Summer she didn’t take anything from anyone. Did you know she owned her own Inn? One of the most popular in Vacuo? And everybody was scared of her. She didn’t let anyone get away with anything but she was fun about it and knew how to have a laugh.”

“What was her name?”

“Leona.”

“Have you got any pictures?”

Robin shook her head and stroked her fingers through Ruby’s hair again for a simple distraction. “No, I don’t.”

Ruby frowned at her before she opened her mouth, “How do you ‘member her?”

Robin smiled and poked Ruby’s nose, “You’re just full of questions aren’t you?” She let out a long breath before she poked Ruby’s head, “With this,” she moved her fingers to gently jab at Ruby’s chest, “and this.”

“Oh,” the little girl said and Robin eyed her for a few moments, wondering what her next question was going to be. Ruby jumped and turned with a grin on her face before she wrapped her arms around Robin’s neck and squeezed gently, “Thank you. We should go eat.”

Robin chuckled and held Ruby’s hand as she jumped onto the floor, “Hungry?”

“Yeah!”

* * *

Robin tossed and turned in her sleep, her dreams flitting between her being in Patch and her being in Vacuo. Ruby and Yang’s laughters were laced over her recollections of the screams and Grimm that invaded her home. A small groan escaped her as she twisted the sheets around her, red eyes following her through the forest and into her new home with a mocking growl.

Something came at her from the darkness, bringing with it a slice of red that made her recoil and jerk awake with deep gasps, her heart pounding in her chest. She clutched at her top as she stared into the darkness of her room, willing herself to not make shapes out of the shadows and she slowly turned to look through her window and up at the moon. “You’re safe,” she whispered to herself, “you’re fine. Everyone else is fine and nothing is going to happen. Nothing. Just a dream, it’s just another bad dream.”

Robin closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down before she finally started to feel her muscles relax. With a deep sigh she fell back onto her pillows, threw an arm over her head and stared at the ceiling. Another bad dream, that was all, just a dream.

She took another deep breath and rolled onto her side and froze, her eyes fixed on the frame that was highlighted by the moonlight. That wasn’t there when she’d fallen asleep and she sat up again, reaching out for it. She could just about see some charred edges to one corner but the picture inside seemed to have made it out okay. It was a picture that had been sat on her Mom’s bedside table, a picture of her and her Mom, together, smiling for the camera that, if she remembered rightly, Eva had been holding.

A smile crept onto her lips as she fingered the black dotted glass and she felt a tear slip down her face. She set it gently back onto her bedside table and crept out of bed, wiping her face as she made her way down the hallway to her father’s bedroom. He was still fully dressed and laying face down, flat out to the world with a few loud snores and she could smell the soot that clung to his clothes.

She wasn’t afraid to admit that she had the best Dad in the world and she crept into the darkness to press a kiss to his head. “Thanks, Dad,” she whispered before she tip toed out again before he could stir.

When she made it back to her room she curled up facing the photo and closed her eyes with a smile, feeling as though she was being watched and looked out for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taking me a week between updates. Work is leaving me mentally drained. I hope you're still enjoying this series though and let me know what you think?


	16. Chapter 16

“I like it, but what about carrying it around with you? Are you going to leave it extended in that form?”

“Well, I mean, what’s wrong with that?”

“Well,” Qrow started, “you need to think about storing it away and the practicality of hefting it around everywhere you go. If you’re for some reason scaling a mountain or trying to hide from your enemy, how easy does it make it for you.”

“Oh,” the student muttered as he looked back down at his drawing. Qrow patted him on his shoulder and moved to the next student to look over their weapon design. At least he was doing some fun teaching classes and he had to admit, he’d always enjoyed this part of the semester every time it came around. There were always some interesting concepts and ideas that never failed to impress him, or make him want to laugh at. Which he would never do, at least not in front of the students. Some ideas were just ridiculous.

“Sir, Sir! Mr Branwen!” Blaine yelled out, waving his hand to get Qrow’s attention. “When do we actually get to make them?”

“Probably in about a week, after we’ve gone over some basic safety instructions and after I’ve approved them.”

There was a small cheer around the class and Blaine held his design up, “This is going to be sweet! I teleport behind somebody and boom! Straight outta there.”

Qrow raised his brows. Blaine’s semblance was definitely something, however the young boy couldn’t teleport more than ten metres at a time and half the time he was disorientated himself. He had a long way to go but Qrow couldn’t fault his idea too much. “Grenade launcher?”

“Yep! And it transforms into a shield so that once I’ve blasted them I can protect myself.”

“Not a bad idea, have you thought about _how_ your weapon would transform? Grenade launcher’s are hefty weapons and it won’t be easy.”

He went around the rest of the class, pointing any obvious flaws within the designs or making subtle suggestions to make each weapon work. As the end of class started to tick closer he finally made it to Robin’s seat and he looked over her spreadsheet of papers to see the same image repeated, a spear, just with a few slight design changes, but a spear each and every time. He raised one brow and looked over her pensive expression, head propped in one hand, as she started to doodle yet another spear, this time at a different angle. “Interesting choice,” he muttered.

She blinked, looked up and glanced down at her design, shying away slightly. “What’s wrong with it?”

“You don’t want to incorporate any kind of bullets or dust into it?”

Robin shook her head and put her hands over the designs, “I don’t want anything that’s flashy, and this way I’m completely subtle.”

He tilted his head to one side, she wasn’t wrong and it was the most subtle weapon anyone had come up with today. He opened his mouth to say something when the bell went, signalling the end of class and day. He raised his head and heard the shuffle of chairs, bags and feet as people started to pack their stuff away. “I want you all to work on your designs tonight. Start to come up with material choices, colour schemes and how you would store your weapons away. Some Hunters like their weapons to compress into a handy bag, a sheath or even a box. How do you want to put yours away? Go on, get out. I’ll see you all tomorrow afternoon.”

Qrow grabbed his own papers and books and started to stuff them into his own bag, glancing up to see Robin taking her time in putting her stuff away. She hesitated on her design book, red eyes glancing over the designs before she closed the book and tossed it into her own bag. “So,” he said once they were alone, “no guns?”

She shrugged as she hugged the strap onto her shoulder. “As I said, I don’t want anything flashy.”

“You know a gun isn’t exactly flashy.”

“I know but I just, don’t feel like it suits me. Plus it collapses.”

“Oh, it collapses does it? Wow!” He shrugged his own shoulder and started towards the door with a small smirk, “Well it’s your choice. And besides, it’s not like you can’t change your mind later on.”

She rolled her eyes and followed after him into the hallway. “You looking forward to see Yang here in a couple of years time?”

“She is going to be a handful.”

“Especially since she likes to make things go bang.”

Qrow grimaced, his mind still plagued by the image of the kitchen on fire thanks to an “accident” that had involved Yang, Robin, Ruby and a baseball bat. Yang had grinned triumphantly whilst Robin had tried to fan the fire out. Ruby was stood crying her eyes out, a bat by her feet. Zwei had started to run circles around the three girls whilst Tai and Qrow tried to assess where they were going to start with this mess. “Don’t remind me.”

The walk home was the same, both of them settling into a comfortable pace as they talked about some of the other students ideas and about their day in general. It wasn’t until they were walking along the path to the front door when Qrow’s scroll buzzed and Robin turned to stare at him with a raised brow. Qrow frowned and tugged it free to see Ozpin’s name written across the screen and he took a quick breath before he glanced to Robin, “I’ll see you inside.”

“Okay,” she mumbled with a frown of her own as she edged away. “I’ll let Uncle Tai know you’ll be in in a minute.”

Once she was out of earshot he answered the call with a short sigh, “Hey, Oz, what’s up?”

“I’m sorry to interrupt your personal time, but we've had a lead on Spring.”

Qrow stiffened at those words before he let out a sigh. “Give me six hours, her last known locations and I’ll start looking.”

* * *

Robin leaned back with a small frown, her shoulders tense as she waited for the door to open. The night breeze was gentle and cooling against her warm skin and she knocked her head against the open window frame. Her Dad was suddenly leaving on some sort of secret mission and she didn’t like it. And it definitely didn’t have anything to do with the substitute teacher that she hated with a passion. Definitely not that.

There was a gentle knock and she leaned forward, her arms wrapped around her knees as she turned her head with a small, “Yeah?”

Her Dad slipped through a crack and closed the door behind him with a small smile, “Hey, Little Bird.”

“You know I’m not so little any more right?”

He grinned lopsidedly and took a seat on the small window seat opposite her, one leg underneath him and the other hanging over the side. “I’ll call you that no matter how old or tall you are.”

She settled her cheek on top of her knees and smiled up at him, “You’re an idiot sometimes.”

“That’s rude.”

“And that’s probably your fault.”

He chuckled and leaned forward to ruffle her hair. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

Robin let out a breath and looked away, her chin on her knees and her eyes fixed to the dark sky, “I know. But that doesn’t mean that I’m okay with it. Why can’t you tell us _anything_ about it?”

“One day I will.”

“So why not _today_?”

He let out a deep breath and Robin turned her head to see him lean back against the wall of the alcove, his shoulders sagged and a deep look of regret on his face. “You won’t understand, but one day, when you’ve seen more of the world, you will.” He turned to look at her and tried to muster a smile, “I promise I’ll tell you everything one day.”

She searched his face for a few seconds before she smiled widely at him and shrugged her shoulder, “Yeah, yeah. You’re a man of many secrets and mysteries. I get it, I get it.” She let out a short chuckle and looked away again, the soft smile stuck on her face. “How long will you be gone for?”

“I’m hoping no longer than a couple of weeks, but I’ll let you know.”

“You better.”

He titled his head with a smile and stood up, “You gonna hug me goodbye?”

Robin chuckled and stood up on the window seat to throw herself at him, wrapping her arms firmly around his neck as she squeezed him tightly. “Don’t die on me, old man.”

“Watch who you’re calling old.”

“Hey,” she said, leaning back to look up at him as he set her on her feet, “what do you think my semblance is?”

“I thought we went over this.”

She rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest, “Seeing how people die?”

He shrugged, “I know that Yang and Ruby have semblances that they can use whenever they want, but not everybody has an on off key for their semblance. People can’t always control theirs and maybe you can’t control yours.”

“I don’t even know what it is.”

Qrow let out a breath and ruffled her hair again, “One day you will.”

“I hate those words, _one day_. Bleh,” she stuck her tongue out for emphasis.

He chuckled and kissed her temple, “Don’t give your new teacher any grief while I’m gone.”

She stuck her tongue out again and loosened her arms from in front of her chest. “As long as you come back.”

He grinned and offered her a wink as he said, “It’s a date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is that a bit of the future plot I see? Things are a happening! Anyway we'll be time skipping longer lengths of time from now on. I want to get Robin into Beacon and I want you to meet her team!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm 50/50 on this chapter. It's nothing more than a bit of harmless fun and I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> (Robin's 17 in this chapter. Beacon is next!)

Robin grunted as she rolled out of the reach of April and brought her weapon up just in time to block the next attack. With a twist of her wrists she swung her staff, and April’s weapon, to one side, letting her feet sweep along the floor at the same time to knock April off her feet. Robin contracted her staff back into its baton form and stepped back as April jumped back up and held her battle axe close to her chest with a small snarl. Robin grinned, extended her staff back into its full form and let it rest against her shoulder with a small wink. April let out a growl and ran forward, swinging her axe in front of her in a frenzy, Robin side stepping and ducking each swing successfully before she ducked under one more swing, brought her staff down onto her wrist and quickly flicked it up to catch her in the side of her head.

“Alright,” Mr Caltha said, bringing his hands up and stepping between the two girls, “that’s enough. April, exerting some self control in the midst of battle can be the difference between succeeding and being defeated. Each swing of your weapon needs to be determined and aimed for, not random. Random leaves you open to attack, calculated means that you’re thinking two steps ahead.” April rolled her eyes, letting her battle axe fold away into a shield that she tucked onto her back. Robin folded her arms over her chest as she glanced at the teacher, waiting for her own breakdown. “And Robin, whilst you did avoid April’s attacks, you were always on the defensive, being backed into the proverbial corner. There is nowhere worse to be than in the corner in any battle and leaving herself to that disadvantage gives the enemy a superior advantage.”

Now Robin rolled her eyes and tucked her own weapon away. “Yes, Sir,” she drew out, only half paying attention. In her own opinion, it had been a fantastic year. Less falling on her ass and more making everybody else fall on their ass. She’d even handed Tai his ass a couple of times, her Dad twice. That was a win in her books.

“But,” Mr Caltha said, “you two have come a long way and are sure to make excellent Huntresses. Who’s next?”

Robin trudged to the benches to take a seat, watching the next set of students take their stance in the middle of the battle ring before they commenced a countdown.

* * *

Robin closed her eyes, letting the cool breeze wash over her as she laid back in the short grass. Signal had it’s own field which stretched up a hill before dropping back off towards a forest and it was a common place for students to find themselves during the warmer months, enjoying the suns rays and the cooling winds.

The entrance exams were coming up for the schools that people wanted to go to and today was the real last day any of them had together before they parted some ways. She cracked red eyes open and watched a cloud drift overhead, tuning in to the end of April’s statement, “-ever increasing technological advances! Why not?”

Blaine snorted, “Have you seen their uniforms?”

April grinned, tucking her knees underneath her chin as a glazed look came over her eyes, “Soo, dreeeamy.”

“They are really smart,” Lynae quipped. “They make you think they’re capable, a lot better than a bunch of kids in their scruffs.”

Blaine sat up straighter, pointing a hand in her direction, “Hey! That’s the best bit about Shade! It’s based entirely upon individual skills and not having to fit in. Screw uniforms.”

Robin snorted and sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees. “If I face any of you in the Vytal tournaments, I’ll be sure to kick your ass.”

Bahul Jett punched lightly at her shoulder with a glare before he said, “In your dreams Branwen. You don’t even have a semblance yet.”

“And already I’m better than you,” she said, punching his shoulder back with a grin of her own.

“Since when? In your dreams?”

She rolled her eyes and fell back down, resting her hands behind her head with a happy sigh. There were a few other students going to Beacon as well as her, but she wasn’t nearly as close to them as she was with everybody else here. April was set on Atlas, Bahul and Lynae on Mistral and Blaine on Shade.

“You know,” April said, nudging Robin’s knee with her foot, “we should do something before we leave.”

“There’s already a big party,” Bahul said, setting his hands onto his knees.

April waved a hand, “I meant just us. Screw everybody else, us five need to do something that we’ll remember.”

Robin raised a brow and shrugged a shoulder, “What are you thinking? Party at one of our houses? Break into the school after hours? Prank the teachers?”

“First, we need to settle a free for all to really find out who’s the best out of us. The teachers always stop the fights just before they get interesting.” She could hear the hums around the small group and sat back up, turning her head to glance from friend to the next. April grinned between them all, making sure she had their attention before she glanced over her shoulder and in a hushed tone mumbled, “And then we break into the school and leave them a parting gift they’ll never forget.”

* * *

Robin did her best to stifle the laugh that wanted to erupt inside of her chest. April’s idea had consisted of the following: TP’ing the gym, moving every single desk either into the hall or outside, taping air horns underneath every teacher’s chair and leaving inappropriate pin up posters everywhere that they could.

She stood among the crowd of students in the hallway who giggled and laughed, watching as some of the teachers tried to rip down as many posters as they could before the students could get a proper look. Even her Dad was pulling the odd poster down, giving it a once over before screwing it up with a smile on his face.

The headteacher didn’t seem to share his sense of humour, yelling at the students to go home and that whoever was responsible needed to come forward. There was a scream from down the corridor and Robin couldn’t hold her laughter in any more. There was another shriek and she doubled over in laughter as Mr Caltha came round the corner, a group of hens hot on his heels and trying angrily to peck at his ankles.

“You think they found the rooster too?” Blaine asked, slinging an arm around her shoulder with a chuckle of his own.

She wiped a tear from her eye and straightened up, “Didn’t we leave it in the Head teacher’s office?”

He blinked at her in deep thought for a moment before he shrugged, “I thought we left it in the girl’s locker room.”

She elbowed his side with a smirk, “You’re disgusting.”

“What?”

She rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag, turning her attention to the carnage in the corridor. There were chickens loose, an air horn sounded in the distance, the training instructor could be seen in the distance chucking balls of toilet paper out of the gym in over filled bin bags and the students were using the desks as benches to observe.

There was a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see her Dad staring down at her, one brow raised and the smile dropped from her face. Robin raised both of her brows and pursed her lips. He held her gaze for a moment before he broke into a grin and chuckled before he walked away, gently shooing a chicken away from him with a foot.

“Does he know?” Blaine whispered.

Robin grinned and nodded, “Yeah, he knows.”

April appeared next, a smirk across her lips. “Who cares, we’re out of here in a few days.”

“Point,” Blaine said, “but it was good.”

“Best. Prank. Ever!”

“April!”

April jumped, wide eyes staring at the head teacher and she pointed immediately to her left to Robin, “It was her idea!”

Robin straightened up, feeling Blaine’s arm drop from her shoulders and she thumbed a hand in his direction, “The chickens were his idea!”

“Hey!”

She was not going down alone in this.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me a little longer than normal but I hope you enjoyed it. Meet Robin's team!

Robin came up from the roll with her staff extended and her eyes scanning the bushes for any waiting Grimm. Once it was clear she let out a small sigh and transformed her weapon into the compact version and stored it away. From what she had seen, Beacon was vastly different to Signal Academy, much bigger and grander. She was definitely going to get lost a couple of times.

The headmaster was something else entirely; _The first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years._ And that didn’t even include the tossing of each student off a cliff, all whilst he calmly drank a mug of coffee.

She shook her head and started walking, her hands behind her head with a small hum. There was something they had to go find, retrieve and take back to somewhere else. At least that was what Ozpin had said. He wasn’t exactly straight forward with his explanation and had been vague about, well, everything.

_The first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years._

Those words still echoed in her ears and she hung head with a heavy sigh. Making friends was not her strong suit and she just hoped whoever she did meet was- Her train of thought was cut out by the sound of breaking branches from the tree on her left. She dropped her hands, tilted her head back and squinted at the leaves and branches, a hand straying to her staff.

“Ow! Oomph, ouch!”

Robin’s brows furrowed and she let her hand relax a fraction before suddenly a wave of green hair appeared, surrounding a pale face. Then she was flat on her stomach, a heavy weight on top of her and she let out a small cough as the air was pushed from her lungs. “Get. Off. Me,” she managed to choke out, hissing as an elbow struck her in the wrong place on her ribs and a foot jabbed painfully at the side of her knee.

“You idiot!” a girl started and Robin internally groaned as she started to push herself up. “Be careful where you’re going. You’re not the only one out here you know!”

Robin finally stood up straight and turned to glare at this girl. Long green hair was tied up into a high ponytail and sunset eyes glared back at her. A white shirt with a deep v-neck line, crossed with brown lace came to a stop just above this girl’s stomach and was complimented by a powder pink, skater skirt and long brown boots that covered her knees. The thing that really struck Robin was the long green tail that this girl was cradling in her hands and soothing the fur on. “I’m not the one who fell out of a tree onto somebody else!”

This girl rolled her eyes and let go of her tail. “I refuse to be your partner.”

Robin quirked a brow and shook her head, “Good. Cause I don’t want to be partners with an arrogant kitty cat.”

That seemed to flick a switch in the girl who stomped into Robin’s personal space with a snarl. Robin met the snarl with a small smirk, refusing to back down as the girl ground out, “Call me that again, and see what happens scarface.”

“Or what? You’ll hiss at me?” She gave it a few seconds and finally widened her smirk, inching closer to almost whisper, “Kitty?” There was a little voice in the back of her mind telling her that antagonising the first person she met was a bad omen for how the rest of her time at Beacon was going to be.

“Well at least my Mom didn’t drop me on face. Or did she try to feed you to a Grimm cause you were already that ugly?”

Robin’s hand curled into fist by her side and she did her best to try not to let her smirk falter. “Do you purr if your ears are scratched or is that strictly a cat thing? Oh… wait…” she left it at that, raising her brows with a grin.

There was an audible growl and Robin couldn’t help the small chuckle. Riling somebody up like this always was entertaining and she had to question if she picked that bad habit up from her Dad or her time at Signal. Either way, she was prepared for some kind of attack and it came in the form of a right hook which she stepped back from and dodged. There was a left hook and she stepped back again, a laugh leaving her lips. She turned, missing the next punch and felt something wrap around her thigh and tug and she was thrown off balance. She stumbled and saw the knee coming up to meet her stomach and she let her weight fall against the other girl completely, flattening them both to the floor.

She winced and shoved her hands at Robin’s chest with a huff, “Get off me! You’re heavy.”

Robin rolled her eyes and climbed to her feet, “So now I’m fat too, great.”

“You said it, not me,” the girl huffed, standing up and brushing the dust from her own clothes.

“You always this rude to people or just those you fall on?”

“Hey! You started it with the cat jokes.”

Robin opened her mouth to fight her point and froze, closed her mouth and pursed her lips. She tilted her head to one side and shrugged a shoulder, “Okay, maybe I did.”

The girl stuck her tongue out, her arms folded over her chest and pushed past Robin, her tail at attention. “ _You’re_ the rude jerk.”

Robin turned and trailed after her with another roll of her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Sue me. I’ll hold it with the cat jokes if you can hold it with the face jokes. Fair?”

“Fair,” the girl muttered, coming to an abrupt halt and turning on the balls of her feet with a smile that brightened up her freckled face. She held a green, fingerless gloved hand out to Robin and said, “Tawney.”

Robin took the hand and gave Tawney her own smile, “Robin.”

“Like the bird?”

“Is there any other kind?”

There was a low growl from behind Tawney and both girls turned to face the source, sharing a quick glance with one another before they drew their weapons. Tawney’s weapon of choice was a morning star that she hefted with ease, jumping through the bushes ahead of Robin. When she came to on the other side she spotted a blonde haired boy with a bow and arrow in hand, a turquoise vest showing off his arms. Across from him, Robin watched as Tawney wrapped her arms around another boy with blue hair that was swept to one side. “Yahto!”

Robin turned her attention to the two Ursa’s that were baring down onto the blonde haired boy. She grabbed her staff and extended it so that it was in its full form and jumped forward, swinging her staff up to catch the closest Ursa in the chin. She swung her staff again and brought it down on the back of the Ursa’s knees, turned and twisted her staff over her wrist to whack the Ursa in the chest and brought her staff down once more to catch it in the head, making it disappear in a cloud of smoke.

She looked up to see the blonde haired boy jump off his Ursa’s shoulders, turn and fire an arrow straight down between the Ursa’s eyes. She nodded her head and took one last look around them before she collapsed her staff into its baton form and stepped closer to the guy, one hand out, “You good?”

“Yeah,” he said, holding his bow in one hand as he took her hand with the other. “Malcolm.

“Robin.”

“He’s my partner,” the other boy said, gesturing his pickaxe to Malcolm.

Tawney stepped back from him and folded her arms over her chest, “You promised me, Yahto. Promised. Me.”

He grinned and ruffled her green hair with his hands, “Keep telling yourself that T.”

Malcolm held his hand up in a small wave to Tawney and said, “This is nice and everything, but we should probably get going.”

Tawney bounced over to Robin, tail flicking behind her and hooked her arm through Robin’s. “We’ll see you two at the finish line.” Once they had stepped a few feet away Tawney leaned towards Robin and whispered, “Dibs on the blondie. He’s cute.”

She glanced over her shoulder and eyed Malcolm with a raised brow. He was cute, definitely somebody all of the girls in the school would be looking at. She couldn’t help the small chuckle and shook her head, “Okay, _T_ , okay.”

* * *

Robin had her arms folded over her chest as Professor Ozpin announced the teams. There were certainly some interesting people and some she was sure she would never get along with. Tawney was by her side, bouncing on her feet impatiently for their turn. All they had to grab in the forest was some chess piece and Tawney had chosen a bishop, keeping a firm hold of it with her tail as they made their way back to Beacon.

“Malcolm Adham, Yahto Nilma, Robin Branwen and Tawney Vardan,” Robin followed Tawney onto the stage, ending up next to Malcolm and she dropped her arms as she watched their pictures on the screen above them. “You will be team MYRTle, led by Malcolm Adham.”

They started to leave the stage and Robin glanced from the three people that joined her. This was going to be her team for the next four years, her bedroom buddies and her friends, she hoped.


	19. Chapter 19

Doctor Oobleck had some serious caffeine addiction. If they caught Professor Port into the trap of talking about his adventures then that was an entire class gone. Professor Peach seemed far too sweet to be teaching the next generation of Hunters and Huntresses and Professor Goodwitch was terrifying. Right now they were listening to Professor Port go on about Creep Grimm roaming in packs due to their lack of combat skills.

Robin had her chin in one hand as she scribbled a crude drawing of a group of creeps. She flicked her gaze to the clock and narrowed her gaze. Her and Tawney had a bet; if Port started in on one of his stories within 20 minutes, she won, if it was after Tawney won. They were only 18 minutes into the lesson but that was one bet she didn’t want to lose: doing the others assignments for an entire week, dressed as a maid.

It had only been three months since team Myrtle had formed, and whilst they were all still getting used to sharing a room with the other gender, Robin had to admit she liked them. Tawney was an endless supply of energy and whilst she was a lot to handle, Robin enjoyed her company more than she would ever admit. Yahto was sweet hearted, funny and intellectual. Whilst he could relax and unwind like Tawney, he insisted on being punctual to every class and doing all of the assignments as soon as possible. Malcolm had the calm head of them all, trying to dissuaded Tawney and herself from doing stupid stunts and making stupid bets, which had become routine by now. He was keen on following the rules and staying out of trouble whilst trying to enjoy himself and everybody else’s antics. She knew that deep down, they all knew that they were the perfect fit for each other.

She glanced at the clock again and saw that there was 1 minute left before she lost the bet. Port was still going on about the preferred methods for conquering nests and swarms of creeps and Robin flicked her eyes over to Tawney. There was smirk curling her lips and she grinned over at Robin and raised he brows suggestively. With a glare she stuck her hand up and looked back to the clock. 20 seconds. “Professor, have you ever encountered a nest yourself?”

15 seconds.

“As a matter of fact, Miss Branwen, I have, and let me tell you it was no easy venture.” 10 seconds. “Back in the days of my youth there was me and one other Huntsman….” Robin clasped her fingers together, sat her elbows on the desk and put her chin on top of her laced fingers and batted her eyes innocently in Tawney’s direction.

“Cheater,” the green haired girl hissed, tail flipping angrily behind her.

Once class was over Robin felt a set of gloved hands shove violently at her back, making her stumble as she turned around to face her assailant, smirk playing on her lips. “You never said anything about making Port tell the story.”

“You’re a piece of cheating trash,” Tawney ground out, arms folded her chest as she bumped past Robin, slamming her shoulder into Robin’s with a huff.

“You’re just upset I thought _outside_ of the box.”

“There was no box! It was simple!” Robin laughed. When Tawney was upset it was a sight to behold and she enjoyed every second of it. “If he distracted himself with a story, then you won. But he didn’t, you did it. You were going to look so _cute_ in that maid outfit too!”

Robin rolled her eyes and trailed behind her team, “We can get you a matching bow for your tail.”

“Oh ha ha, birdbrain.”

“Ladies,” Yahto started, settling a hand onto Tawney’s shoulder, “ladies. You can _both_ wear a maid outfit and me and Malc’ will enjoy the view. Right Malc’?”

Tawney and Robin turned to glare at their leader, both of them daring him to agree to Yahto’s declaration. He laughed nervously, feeling the anger burning his skin and he held both hands up, “It never even crossed my mind.”

“You’re a crappy liar,” Robin said.

“Very crappy,” Tawney agreed and in the next instant she punched Yahto’s arm. “How about you wear the outfit, I’m sure it’ll show off your stupid face.”

Robin looped her arm through one of Malcolm’s and leaned in close to yell-whisper, “So how many fantasies have you had about us in a maid outfit?”

Tawney giggled as Malcolm’s face turned beet red and she wrapped an arm around Yahto’s neck to pull him down to her level, one finger stroking his cheek, “What about you big boy? Did you dream about me last night?”

“ _Bad boys_ ,” Robin teased, pulling gently on Malcolm’s tie with a purr.

Robin lost her cool first, erupting into a fit of laughter as she let go of Malcolm’s arm and stepped away, one hand on her chest as she tried to catch her breath. Tawney let Yahto go to wrap an arm around Robin’s shoulders, joining her in the eruption of laughter and giggles. “Their faces! Gold! Absolute gold!”

“You can take the boy out of the teenager but you can’t take the teen out of the boy!”

Tawney roared with a fresh burst of laughter, her and Robin taking the lead and making a line for the lunch room.

Malcolm and Yahto blinked and slowly turned theirs heads to look at one another. Malcolm’s face was still bright red, whilst Yahto’s eyes were wide, his tanned complexion hiding any blushes. “Has Tawney always been like that?”

Yahto let out a sigh and hung his head, “Yeah.” They had grown up together, literal neighbours in the kingdom of Vale who had always hung out together and invaded each other’s personal spaces. “I want to say that you’ll get used to it, but you don’t.”

“Great. What did we do to deserve this?”

Yahto slapped his arm and nodded his head with a chuckle, “Come on, we might make it through the year.”

“Before or after they murder us?” Malcolm sighed and dragged his feet behind him.

* * *

Robin took a seat and glanced back to the main doors. She elbowed Tawney gently and narrowed her eyes at the sight of Malcolm stuck at the door to the lunch room, “Atlas boy has another fan.”

Tawney glanced over before she snorted and sat herself down. “He’s got an entire fan club to start his own harem.”

Yahto pulled a face and shook his head, “Do I have a fan club?”

Robin opened her mouth, held a hand up and stopped. She frowned and turned to glance at Tawney, “I think he does, doesn’t he?”

Tawney took a bite of mashed potato and nodded her head, “Nowhere near as big as, quote, “The School Hottie” unquote.”

Robin snorted as she watched their leader turn down another girl’s advances. He had come the furthest out of them, coming from Atlas. When the rest of team Myrtle had discovered this small piece of information he’d been interrogated on why he’d choose to come to Beacon. The only response he’d given them was a shrug and a small, “Nobody has any expectations of me here.” All of them left him alone after that and accepted him.

“It wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t so awkward,” Yahto muttered, idly spooning some food into his mouth.

“Let’s enjoy his suffering,” Tawney hummed, tail flipping slowly behind her.

“Are we sadists? I think we’re sadists.” Robin said.

Yahto stood up with a dramatic sigh, “I’ll go and rescue him.”

Tawney stuck her tongue out, “Boo. Boring.”

* * *

Malcolm pulled his tie off and unbuttoned the school’s blazer, draping both over the back of the chair to his desk. “So guys, we’ve got to decide what kind of mission we want to go on in three days. Search and rescue, Search and destroy, Reconnaissance, or Border patrol.”

Tawney fell back onto her bed and kicked her shoes off, letting them fall wherever with a thump. “Recon! They’re easy.” She rolled onto her stomach, hands underneath her chin and her legs kicked up into the air. Her green hair swung from its ponytail as she tilted her head to one side, “Besides, it’s like a mini vacation just without the hotels or swimming pools.”

Yahto held his hand up and Malcolm pointed at him, “Border patrol. There’s so many small villages out there that fall to the hands of the Grimm because they get over run one too many times. There’s action and saving people.”

Malcolm nodded his head, “I like that. Border patrol trumps Recon for now. Robin?”

Robin laid back on her bed, hands behind her head, eyes closed and feet crossed at her ankles. “I don’t care. We all know we’re going to rock whichever one we choose. Plus, location has a lot to do with the choice. Who wants a recon mission in Vale? Have you seen Mistral? Far more fun.”

“Location, location, location,” Tawney muttered, letting her arms fall over the side of her bed on the far side of the room, the furthest away from the window. “As long as it’s somewhere fun.”

“Right,” Malcolm said, “well we’ve got a couple of hours free tomorrow. We should work on our team work during combat so that we don’t trip over each other. Yahto and Robin, you two need to work on your partnership cause Yahto almost took you out.”

Robin held a finger up, “Almost. Almost, I know how to watch my back.”

“Tawney,” Malcolm rounded on the Faunus, “we need to work on your balance. You over swing or under swing which has a negative effect on your overall performance.”

“And you need to work on your close quarter combat skills,” she retorted. “You can’t always rely on sitting at the back and firing your arrows.”

Malcolm pointed a hand at Tawney and hummed, “Yeah, I know. Tomorrow we’ll practice, rest the day after and then choose our mission the day after that.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Yahto said.

Robin smirked as she cracked her eyes open and looked to the opposite side of the room to where Tawney lay, “You can wear the outfit when we get back, and I promise to only take _one_ picture.”

“You dare take any and I’ll smother you in your sleep.”

Malcolm toed his shoes off and sat at his desk, “At least hide the body. I don’t want to be pulled into a murder investigation.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me a while to update. But I hope you enjoyed a little bit of team Myrtle! We'll see a lot more of them. The next chapter will be their mission. Let me know what you think.


	20. Chapter 20

_The wind whipped painfully against the back of her neck and across her cheeks, making her acutely aware of how quiet and cold it was. There was a distant growl, followed by a roar, that died down into a low whistle. She tipped her head up and stared up at the night sky, the stars blinking slowly back at her. There was a rustle of leaves to her left and she held her staff up, eyes fixed on the shadows in the bushes as she held her breath._

_A small rabbit hopped out three jumps, sniffed the air, turned towards her and hopped away. A small sigh left her lips and she closed her eyes, letting a new wave of calm wash over her._

_A sudden rush of air rushed past her and knocked her off her feet, rolling onto her back and her staff falling from her grasp. When she finally came to a stop she pried her eyes open to stare up at large red eyes that bored into her, seeming to glow with anger as the feathers on the Griffon’s body rippled with its screech._

“Hey!”

Robin snapped her eyes open and stared up into a set of warm brown eyes. Blue hair swung into Yahto’s eyes and she lifted a hand to push him out of her face, “What?”

“It’s not my fault you’re the last one up.” He held a hand out and Robin took it, letting Yahto tug her to her feet. “Nile wants to go over the area we’re patrolling when we switch with the locals and the plan of attack.”

She brushed her pants down and stretched with a yawn before she followed after her teammate. They had chosen a mission that was a mixture of Seek and Destroy and Border Patrol. There had been sightings of a group of Boarbatusks that had been ruining crops and chasing off their trade partners. Food was starting to become a problem and whilst they had the man power to deal with some of the Grimm, the growing number of Boarbatusks didn’t make it easy, which was where team MYRTle came in.

They were given a large tent to rest up in, the small village unable to offer anything more, and Robin pushed the opening flap away and squinted into the descending night. A few torches lit the small place up and she followed Yahto’s back as he wondered over to the village edge. She couldn’t help the small glance she threw to the sky, the dream still fresh in her mind. Nobody had said anything about Griffon sightings, just Boarbatusk’s and maybe an Ursa or two.

“Miss Branwen,” she turned her attention to the Huntsman they were with, Nile something, she’d forgotten what his last name was, “thank you for joining us. The locals will be ending their patrols in thirty minutes and then we’ll take over. Remember, we’re wanting to know where the Boarbatusk’s are holed up and relaying that information to everyone else before we go in. I don’t want anybody trying to single handedly attempting to take them on.”

“Yes sir,” Tawney clipped, her eyes portraying her cheery voice as she saluted him.

Malcolm nodded his head, his usual pristine hair a mess as he rubbed at his cheeks to try to keep himself awake. “Scrolls on and no more than thirty feet from the village edge, right?”

“Correct,” Nile said, patting the young man on his shoulder. “I want you all to grab something to eat and prepare yourselves. We’re covering the perimeter tonight so it’s up to us to make sure not one Grimm makes it past us.”

Robin’s stomach twisted as he mind thought back to the dream and she couldn’t help but to raise her hand, “Has there been sightings of other Grimm in the area? Griffons, Beowolves, maybe even a Death Stalker? They’re common in this kind of area right?”

Nile nodded his head, short brown hair barely moving in the breeze of the wind, “They are, but nobody has seen anything else. There hasn’t been a report of them in months so chances are we won’t run into one.”

She nodded her head and avoided everybody’s attention. Maybe it was just a stupid dream, maybe she was being paranoid. It wouldn’t be the first time her dreams had gotten carried away, she’d worked herself up over it and it had turned out to be nothing. There was the instance where she’d cried and clung to Tai’s side after a dream involving her Dad getting injured on a mission so much so that she didn’t know if he would make it back. Tai had comforted her every day and night until Qrow had strolled back into the house like everything was fine with the world without so much as a scratch on him.

An arm wrapped itself around her neck and she felt a hand muse itself in her hair. Tawney’s voice was teasing as she said, “Aww, is somebody scared? Is the wittle birdy worried something might clip her wings? Awww, you poor thing.” Robin reached out to tug on Tawney’s tail, earning a yelp in response, making her laugh as she was freed from the girl’s grasp.

Somebody cleared their throat and they both straightened up to see Nile staring at them, one brow raised disapprovingly and his arms folded over his chest, “We’re here to help these people on official business, not to mess around. As Huntsman and Huntresses we are responsible for keeping people safe, protecting their lives. We need to be on our guard and not acting like children at every turn.”

Tawney ducked her head first, hands clasped in front of her as she muttered an apology. Robin held his gaze for a moment before she bit her tongue and looked away. They still were children, and if they were always serious then they weren’t going to have a life. That was something both of her parents, Tai and Summer had taught her. Be serious when it mattered but try to have fun.

“That leaves us with twenty-five minutes. You all know your positions, dismissed.”

Yahto hummed and after a few seconds he said, “Aaand he’s gone.”

“About time,” Tawney complained, her whole frame sagging as she stared up at the sky. “What a hard ass.”

Malcolm turned to look at her and shrugged a shoulder, “I mean, he does have a point. We’re here to do a job, we can’t be seen messing about or screwing around. Word of mouth travels fast and reputation is something that people comment on first.”

Robin poked his side with a scowl, “Well, then I’ve got no hope. My Dad’s a functioning alcoholic and everybody knows it, so what do I care?”

Yahto chuckled at that comment and shook his head, “You’re kidding right?”

Robin snorted and shook her head, “Nope.”

“Ooh,” Tawney whispered, “sucks to be you. I wouldn’t employ you.”

“I wouldn’t want you as an employer anyway, too Catty.”

Tawney turned a glare in Robin’s direction and Malcolm hung his head with a sigh. “Just, take this seriously at some point. Please?”

“We’ve got twenty minutes before we need to be serious,” Robin said, “relax a little.”

* * *

Robin stretched her hands over her head with a yawn before she settled them behind her head. They’d split up, each of them taking a position around the village and started their patrols, eyes watching every shadow and corner for any kind of sign of a Boarbatusk. The only sounds were the distant noises of the village, her feet crunching on dried leaves and sticks and crickets. There was the occasional owl hoot or bird caw, but other than that, it was quiet and Robin let her arms drop and settled her hand on her staff in its baton form.

It was a three day mission, so if nothing came up tonight then they had two more nights of this before it was passed over to the next Huntsmen. There was the sound of hooves running towards her and she extended her staff into its full form, eyes narrowed. A few seconds passed, the sound of stomping feet getting louder before a deer ran straight passed her, stopped, turned to look at her and ran off again.

Her scroll hummed into life and she answered it to a group call between her team and Nile. “Any sightings?” Nile whispered.

“Nay,” Tawney said, “Not here,” Malcolm, “Nope,” Yahto and Robin finally answered with a quick, “No.”

He ended the call, telling them to keep their eyes open and Robin put her scroll away with a tired sigh. It had already been two hours, the temperature had dropped to something a little less than manageable and she was bored. The wind was starting to become painfully cold and she shivered, listening to the sound of a growl in the distance, followed by a quiet roar, before she glanced up at the sky.

The bushes rustled to her left and she snapped her attention to them with a frown. A few seconds passed before a rabbit hopped out and Robin froze. _Wait… no._ She moved, taking a step back and turning in the same movement, one arm raised as a sudden gust of wind rushed past her and red eyes glared down at her just inches away from her own face. It let out a screech, who body rippling with anger and it’s breath washing over her face. “Shit,” she whispered, ducking her head to avoid its beak and she rolled underneath its body, swinging her staff out to catch one of its back legs and make it stumble. She came out on the other side, turned and brought her staff up as it pounced onto her, claws battling against her staff as she was shoved onto her back, beak catching nothing but air a hairsbreadth away from her face. It let out another growl and suddenly her scroll came to life.

There was a flash of wings beating, the claws around her staff tightened and she was lifted into the air, feet dangling beneath her as she clung to her staff so that she didn’t fall. Robin looked down, glad that she wasn’t afraid of heights and for once upset that her weapon didn’t have a gun function. Her body swung and it took her a moment to realise that the Griffon had thrown her into the air and she turned, trying to find the right way up before there was another screech and she saw a flash of red. Its beak was wide open and she held her staff out and turned her body just enough to slam into its waiting mouth, slotting between its upper and lower beak. Her momentum pushed the Griffon’s body down and she fell with it, watching out for any claws that tried to reach towards her, turning just enough to kick them away before she reached for her staff again, pressed into the Griffon’s mouth.

Land was coming up far too fast and she gritted her teeth, pulled on her staff and kicked off from its body, pushing her backwards and away from it. There was thud as the Griffon hit the floor and the air was forced from her lungs as she felt herself be thrown into a tree, branches beating her on her descent as she fell from one branch to the next, staff slipping from her grasp. For the second time she lost track of which way was up until she came to a sudden stop, face hitting the floor painfully and her staff dropping down on top of her.

“Ow,” she mumbled, body singing with the aches.

Her scroll was still humming and she winced as she reached for it and pressed the loudspeaker, “Yeah?”

“Was that you?” Malcolm shouted, worry etched into every syllable.

“Maybe,” she managed to hum back. “You find the Boarbatusk’s yet?”

“I think you landed close to me,” Yahto called out, “I’ll come to you.”

“Keep your eyes open,” Nile commanded, “Griffon’s sometimes attack in groups so there may be more.”

“Got it!” Tawney shouted and Robin slowly sat up, ignoring her scroll in favour of rubbing at her back. She slowly stood back up, her head a little dizzy before she shook it and the world settled itself into a straight line again. She scoured the floor with her eyes for her weapon and scooped it up, transforming it back into its baton form before she put it away, more than happy to call it a day.

There was the sound of heavy footsteps and Yahto burst through between two trees and came to a stop in front of her, “You good?”

Robin shrugged a shoulder and glanced towards where she thought the Griffon had gone down, “I’ve had worse. Has it got back up?”

“I think it’s out of commission, but you know what Tawney’s going to be saying right?” Robin raised one brow at Yahto’s smirk and he let out a small chuckle before he said, “That you really can fly.”

She punched his shoulder lightly and started walking back with him. “You’re a dick.”

“I’ve learnt from my peers.”

Both of their scrolls buzzed and Yahto answered his to hear Tawney shouting excitedly, “It’s action time boys and girls! Flank on my position, I’ve found them.”

Yahto pointed back over his shoulder and glanced towards Robin, “You still got some fight in you?”

“Of course,” she grinned and grabbed her staff, “I’ve always got some fight in me.”

* * *

The rest of the night had been a long thirty minutes, Tawney almost taking out an entire cave system as she used her semblance to fire back with every hit she’d taken had finished the job and they’d been rewarded with doing whatever they wanted on the last two days.

On the last night Robin had found herself sitting by herself on a fallen log in a secluded clearing just ten minutes away from the village. There was a deep scowl on her face as she thought back to the Griffon attack and the dream she’d had that night. She kicked at a stone and watched it roll away from her. Nobody had died this time, which was a plus, but it still played on her mind. Was that her semblance, having dreams of things to happen and being able to stop them? But all she’d seen was the Griffon appear, she didn’t have time to finish that dream, and all that had changed was how she had met it.

This time she’d had a glance and she wondered if there would be something more to it in her next dream, already dreading the next time she fell asleep, just in case.

“Hey,” she turned to see Malcolm step into the clearing, a concerned look on his face as he sat down next to her, “you okay?”

She grinned and glanced away, leaning back to look up at the broken moon, “I’m fine. Just enjoying the view.”

“You sure?” he nudged her shoulder with his, “You’ve been quiet ever since we took care of the Boarbatusk’s.”

Robin nodded her head and closed her eyes, “I’m sure.”

“I’m not just a team leader, I’m your friend as well and I want you to know that you can talk to me if you need to.”

She smiled and glanced over at him, the concern still evident on his face. Slowly, she nodded her head again and sat forward, her elbows on her knees. “You’re cute, Atlas. If I need a shoulder to cry on I’ll come to you first.”

He let out a small chuckle and she could feel him shake his head, “Close enough, I guess.” They settled into a comfortable silence, the cold wind offset by the closeness of their bodies and Robin closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of the forest around them. The sound of Malcolm clearing his throat disturbed it and Robin turned her head with a raised brow at the small blush that was colouring his cheeks, “Do- can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to.”

She frowned at his words and hesitantly said, “Okay?”

He swallowed and pointed weakly at her face, “How, how did it happen? If you- if you don’t mind?” She didn’t say anything, just stared at him, her brow still raised as she waited for him to explain why he was suddenly interested. Her team had been caught staring at her face in the first few weeks they’d been together, and Tawney has asked the question first. Robin had brushed it off with a simple, _Does it really matter? a_ nd that had seemed to settle it. He quickly looked away, fidgeting in his seat as she cleared his throat again, “I was just curious, you’ve not really said much about where you’re from and I wondered if that was anything to do with it. If you don’t want to ta-”

“Vacuo,” she said, earning a confused stare from him. She sighed and glanced away, fixing her eyes on a small rabbit that was mooching around the clearing with them. “I was born in Vacuo, where my Mom’s from, in this small village. I was five when it happened and it wasn’t even a Grimm that did this but…” she stopped, her mouth going dry. She’d never spoken about this before, never let on to what had really happened other than _the monsters came._ Part of her was still hoping that it had been her imagination, that it was a dream or something but deep down, something made her sick with that thought. She shook her head and stood up, “my village was gone, torn apart by murderers and Grimm. My Mom was killed and my Dad carried me, bloodied and bleeding to Patch where I grew up afterwards.”

She didn’t realise how tense she was until Malcolm gently squeezed her wrist, the tension seeming to drain completely from her as she sagged. It was a painful day that she hated to think about and she turned her head to see him smiling softly at her, “I’m sorry.”

She sniffed and tugged her wrist free, wiping her face with the back of her hand, “Nothing to be sorry for.”

“I’m sorry I asked, that’s, that’s tough for anybody to deal with, never mind as a kid.” She shrugged her shoulders and refused to look at him. She had dealt with it, was _still_ dealing with it, but it didn’t matter. It was her problem, her issue, not theirs. They couldn’t possibly understand- “Thank you.” She froze and tilted her head just enough to let Malcolm know that she was listening, “For telling me, I’m sorry that I asked and I won’t tell anyone.” He brushed past her with a small pat on her shoulder, “I’ll give you some space. My scroll’s always on if you need me.”

As she watched him leave she wiped her face again, a small smile touching her lips. He was really sweet and gentle at heart, a lot more than just his looks that the rest of the study body praised and fawned over.

“Thanks,” she whispered to herself, ducking her head as she took a seat again, her shoulders feeling just a little bit lighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the longer chapter makes up for the delay in updating. 
> 
> I'd love to hear your opinions! Let me know what you think and thank you for reading.


	21. Chapter 21

“And that means what? Raven?” Robin rolled her eyes and didn’t even bother to lift her attention away from her notes. Oobleck cleared his throat before he said, “My apologies, Robin.”

She flicked her gaze up then, giving the Doctor a firm look before she straightened up and said, “Never fight a Faunus in the dark.”

“Correct! Their superior night vision gives them the advantage every time and means that they are never to be underestimated, something that has happened far too many times in history.”

There was poke to Robin’s shoulder and she swatted Tawney’s pen away, knowing why the girl was prodding her. It was to do with the frown that she was wearing, that she always wore whenever one of the teacher’s messed up on her name. It wasn’t often that they did, but when it happened it irked her to no end. The first time it had happened everybody had shrugged it off, but by now she could feel the brewing question in Tawney’s third pen poke.

By the time class ended Tawney all but pounced on Robin’s shoulders, chanting the name, “Raven, Raven, Raven,” quietly in her ear. Robin let out a small growl, turned and threw herself at Tawney, pushing them both to the floor in a heap. Tawney laughed, her arms out as she tried to push Robin away and off of her. “Come on! You can’t blame me.”

“Ladies,” Yahto chimed in, tugging Robin to her feet and away from a giggling Tawney. “At least warn us before you decide to put on a show for us.”

Tawney pulled herself up and wrapped an arm around Robin’s shoulders, pulling her against her side. “Come on, spill for us already. Who the hell is Raven and why do the teacher’s keep calling you it?”

Robin shrugged Tawney’s arm off of her and reached for her scroll, flicking through the images she had stored on there until she came across the one she had saved of her Dad’s team. The only reason she had the image in the first place was because both her Dad and Uncle Tai seemed to hide it from view and she wanted to know what her new family had been like before everything had gone wrong. “Here,” she said, pushing her scroll into Tawney’s face. The green haired girl took it, earning the curious gazes of Yahto on one shoulder and Malcolm on the next as they all inspected the image.

All three set of eyes looked up at her, glanced back down at the scroll and back up at her. “That’s creepy,” Yahto said.

“So that’s your Mom?” Malcolm questioned.

Robin scrunched her face up and shook her head. “No! She’s my Dad’s twin. He’s on the right.”

Tawney raised her brows and whistled, “He’s hot. Is he single?”

Robin snatched her scroll back and stuffed it away. “Don’t even think about it.”

Tawney purred, “So he _is._ ”

“Down girl,” Yahto said, tugging on the back of Tawney’s shirt. “Stay within your own age.”

“It explains the mix up,” Malcolm commented.

Yahto nodded his head with a hum, “Is everyone in your family named after birds?”

Robin shrugged her shoulder and blew a puff of air out of her cheeks, “Beats me.”

* * *

“Ow! Hey!”

Robin and Malcolm looked up from their seat in the cafeteria to see Yahto pulling on Tawney’s arm as a group of three students crowded around them. “It’s real? Wow, do you purr too?”

“Is fish you’re favourite?”

“Do you go crazy for catnip?”

“I bet she hisses too.”

“Uh oh,” Robin hummed as she watched Tawney’s lips turn into a larger and larger snarl the more the questions came at her. “Erm, Malc’?”

“I know, I know,” he said, already pushing himself up from his seat as Tawney dropped her tray of food and tried to reach out for the bullies, threats snarling from her mouth.

Yahto had dropped his own tray onto the nearest table as he used both hands to restrain Tawney. “Knock it off guys, Faunus are people too.”

“Yeah,” one of the boys laughed, “if people were freaks. Everyone knows they’re good for nothing but being trained and used like the animals they really are.”

The other boy clicked his fingers as he tilted his head to one side, “My folks do have a problem with mice. Hey kitty, think you’d be able to take care of them?”

Malcolm stepped between them, folding his arms over his chest. “Do we have a problem over here?”

The girl in the trio snorted and pushed the boys to one side. “Come on, Malcolm. I thought you would understand better than anybody that sideshows and weirdos like her don’t belong in places like this, with us _normal_ people.” There was a deep silence over the small group, almost overshadowed by the lull of a room full of chattering teenagers. Yahto’s fingers tightened on Tawney’s arms as her tail whipped dangerously behind her. Malcolm looked the same, unimpressed expression exaggerated by his bored posture. The girl stepped into his personal space and hooked an arm through his with a smirk, “General Adham wouldn’t approve now would he? A pretty boy like you shouldn’t be mixing with her kind.”

Malcolm gracefully pulled his arm free from her grasp and folded his arms over his chest. “Leave her, and the rest of my team alone.”

There was a snort from one of the boys, “What? Kitty cat, farm boy and scar face over there? That team?”

“Not much of a team if you ask me,” the other boy joked.

Malcolm uncrossed his arms and stepped towards the first boy that had spoken. “They’re better people than you’ll ever be. At least they have morals and, if our training classes with Glynda are anything to go by, better fighters than you could ever hope to be. So back off, and if I hear another word about my team, my _friends_ again, I’ll make sure you quiver in fear from seeing us.”

The girl chuckled, slapped his arm with a playful smirk, “Oh Malcolm, Malcolm, Malcolm. I thought your parents taught you better than this.”

Malcolm turned on the girl so fast that Robin flinched from the sudden harsh glare he had on his face. There was an icy chill running down her back just from looking at Myrtle’s leader. “Bring my parents into this again, and I’ll be sure to make sure _yours_ are out of business. What was Mommy’s title? Specialist? How much does she like her job?”

The scene was frozen in Robin’s mind, the two boys staring at the girl with wide eyes, shock apparent on their faces. Tawney and Yahto’s mouths were wide open in surprise as they stared at their leader whilst the girl was stood there, cheeks burning and teeth gritted into a glare. “This isn’t over,” she growled before she stomped away, the two boys trailing behind her.

Malcolm let out a deep breath and his look of cold anger was washed from his features. “You guys take a seat, I’ll get you some new food Tawney.”

And with that Malcolm walked off, leaving the other two stood there in shock. After a few seconds they shook their heads and stepped over to Robin with a confused expression before they took a seat. Robin cleared her throat before she pointed to Malcolm’s back, “So, that happened.”

“I’ve never seen him look so pissed off before,” Yahto said.

Tawney hummed and nodded her head, eyes fixed on the table. “I think I’m scared of him.”

A tray of food appeared in front of Tawney and all three members stared up at Malcolm in complete silence. He flicked his gaze between them before he raised his brows and lifted his shoulders, “What?”

“Don’t you ‘what’ us,” Yahto said. “What the hell was that?”

“What?”

“He said don’t ‘what’ us,” Robin said. “Since when were you so, so... scary.”

He shrugged his shoulders and sat back down in his original seat, “Since bullies try to pick on my team mates and friends for being who they are.”

Tawney elbowed Malcolm’s side and set her elbows on the table, “General Adham? Is that-”

Malcolm sighed and hung his head, “Yeah. The same.”

Yahto was the next to speak with a grin on his face, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

He shrugged, “I didn’t want my family to influence what you thought of me.”

“Come on,” Tawney said, “we could rule the school with your kind of status. It’s like royalty almost.”

Robin frowned and looked between them all, her knowledge on Atlas and Mantle limited to General Ironwood and the Schnee Dust Company. “Does somebody want to fill me in?”

Tawney snorted, “Did you grow up under a rock? _The_ General Adham.”

She raised a brow and shrugged a shoulder, “Who?”

“General Adham,” Yahto said, “was the old Headmaster of Atlas Academy and is in charge of vetting initial Atlas specialists to train directly under General Ironwood. If you don’t make the cut underneath him then you never will. I think he’s rejected almost five times as many applicants than he’s accepted. Not to mention that he’s undefeated in combat so far.”

Malcolm hung his head, “He’s not that cruel.”

“With this kind of power,” Tawney said, “this school could be ours.”

“Are you guys done? Can we drop the subject of my Dad?”

“At least Tawney doesn’t want to bang yours,” Robin quipped, causing Malcolm’s cheeks to dust.

Tawney sniggered and poked her fork in Robin’s direction, “That’s cause he’s married.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter up! Remember, thoughts and comments are welcome and loved!


	22. Chapter 22

Robin fingered the black fabric bracelet on her wrist, her eyes following the lines of red and blue that intertwined with the black. A lot of students had visited home for the couple weeks of break between terms, whilst team Myrtle were still all accounted for and had decided to visit Vale to pass the time. Tawney had insisted on doing some shopping and Malcolm had agreed, leaving Yahto and Robin to complain and whine anytime they spent longer than fifteen minutes in one store. Yahto had found the small coffee shop and insisted that they all take a well deserved thirty minute break, which is where they all were, surrounded by bags, cakes, tea and coffee.

A tail flipped into Robin’s view and she blinked, looking up from her wrist to see Tawney staring at her with one brow raised, “What’s that?”

“Nothing,” Robin quipped, straightening up in her seat. “Just a thing my Dad got me.”

“Awww, so sweet,” she mocked, sticking her tongue out.

Robin gently kicked out with her foot, knocking one of Tawney’s bags over and shrugged her shoulders. “Oops.”

Malcolm groaned and rolled his eyes, “Can you two behave for one day? Please?”

“Is that an order?” Tawney whispered lowly, her eyes darkening with a grin.

“You are such a creep,” Yahto said, shoving Tawney’s shoulder to make her stop pulling that same face. Tawney ignored him and pulled her scroll out to start to look at film times, stating that they needed to watch something before the next term started.

Robin grabbed her drink and took a sip, ignoring the ramblings of her team. Whilst she had been tempted to go home to see Ruby, Yang and even Uncle Tai, part of her would have felt wrong. There was still a part of her that felt as though she was invading _their_ home no matter how welcomed they made her feel. She set her cup down as Yahto and Malcolm started to argue about which Grimm was the most terrifying, Tawney adding her input here and there.

She leaned back in her seat and enjoyed the sounds of their voices as she glanced around the small coffee shop. The glass shelves were full of delicious looking treats and she scanned the sugared goods. She was definitely coming back here at some point, even if it was on her own. There was a whisper to her right and she turned her head only to freeze at the sight that greeted her. Red eyes pierced into her through slits in a very convincing Grimm mask. Black hair flowed away from the mask and down the woman’s back. She lifted a pale hand up to pull the mask away and Robin’s eyes widened as she came face to face with Raven Branwen.

“Qrow,” Raven said, eyes fixed on Robin.

“Raven,” she heard her Dad say and she turned her head to see Qrow staring back at her, a tumbler of whiskey in one hand and a pissed of expression on his face. “What do you want?”

“Can’t a girl say hi to her brother?”

“That depends, are you going to say hi to your family again? You know, that daughter you have? Husband?”

Raven let out a small scoff and Robin turned to see the woman shake her head, “And yet you’re all the way out here whilst Robin’s left behind. A little hypocritical don’t you think?”

“I message her every day, call her every week and stay at home as much as I can. When was the last time you even said Yang’s name?” Qrow scoffed and turned his attention away from his sister to stare at an interesting spot to his left. “Did you want anything or just a lecture?”

“Spring, do you know where she is?”

“Why would I tell you?”

“Because she found Fall and it’s only a matter of time before _she_ finds her. I want to know where she is so that we can be as far away from everything as possible.”

“Whoa,” Qrow said, hands up and his tone sarcastic, “for a moment there I thought you were wanting to help.”

“Ozpin will fail, Qrow. You would be wise to be as far away from him as possible when he does fall.”

Robin stood up, a chill sweeping down her spine and the noise of the shop deafened the heavy beating of her heart in her chest. She had to blink her eyes a few times before she came to the realisation that she was just staring at Tawney, her heart pounding and her eyes wide.

“Robin?” Yahto said, breaking whatever spell she was under. She turned to see Yahto stood up, one of his hands coming to rest gently on her arm with a concerned look on his face. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she breathed out, the word unconvincing and she turned to glance at the rest of her team, their gazes matching Yahto’s concern. “I’m just drained and I was going to head back. Get an early night.”

“Well,” Malcolm said, getting to his feet as well, “I don’t mind heading back with you. We did start early thanks to _somebody_.”

“Hey,” Tawney said, finally joining the other three in standing, “you didn’t have to come if you didn’t want to miss the stupid queues.” She started to gather her bags up and Robin reached down to give her a hand. “Next time you’re staying at home.” She turned to Robin and beamed, “It’s been a long day. We’ll join you.”

The walk back to their dorm room was a quiet hum of mostly silence, each of them content with each others company. What little conversation there was, Robin stayed out of it, deep in thought as she replayed that same scene and conversation over in her mind. She wasn’t asleep and it was just a chat between her Dad and her Aunt, nothing more. No danger, no Grimm, no monsters, just talking. It didn’t make sense and she pulled her scroll out and hovered over her Dad’s name, finger tapping the side of her scroll.

When they made it back to their room Robin dropped Tawney’s bags onto her bed and fired off a quick message. _‘Hi, hope you’re okay. Anything interesting happen?’_

“I am beat,” Tawney said, falling back onto her bed with a satisfied hum.

“Yeah,” Malcolm said, falling face first onto his own bed next to Robin’s. “Don’t wake me up tomorrow.”

Robin smiled, grabbed her pyjamas and made her way to the bathroom, letting out a heavy sigh once the door was closed. “I’m awake, I’m awake,” she whispered to herself, “so how-” She scrubbed a hand over her face and finally changed into her pyjamas, her mind still trying to figure out what had happened. Was it really a conversation that had happened? If it was it didn’t make sense. Fall? Spring? Ozpin will fail? Fail what? She wasn’t even sleeping, she’d been wide awake so how could she even see anything? She shook her head and made her way back out of the bathroom and to her bed. Yahto was already underneath his covers, Malcolm was on his way to the bathroom and Tawney was fast asleep, managing to have kicked her shoes of before hand.

She checked her scroll to see a new message from her Dad, _‘Catching up with an old friend in Mistral. Took down 2 Death Stalkers at the same time.’_

‘ _Who’s you’re old friend?’_

Malcolm finished in the bathroom and Robin glanced at him as she climbed into bed, giving him a small smile before she faced the wall closest to her. A small buzz had her reaching for her scroll again to see Qrow’s two word response, _‘Nobody important._ _’_ She dropped her scroll with a bite of her tongue, not sure how she felt about his response.

“Are you okay?”

She turned to look over her shoulder with a raised brow. “Huh?”

He shook his head and climbed into his own bed, “It’s a simple enough question.”

“I’m fine.”

“You know, you never told us what your semblance is?”

Robin shrugged and closed her eyes, “Cause I don’t know. What’s your point?”

“You spaced out.” She opened her eyes and stared at the wall, feeling Malcolm boring into her back. “I don’t think they noticed, but you spaced out, kinda looked around a little and stood up.”

She bit the inside of her cheek and shrugged again, “I don’t know, Malc. When I do I’ll let you know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like we're going for weekly updates! I hope you're all still enjoying this. Remember, I love hearing your thoughts.


	23. Chapter 23

It was deathly quiet in the house and Robin arched one brow. School had broken up for the Summer and whilst everyone had the option to stay and practice their skills, she’d chosen to go home and visit her family. If she knew where they were. It was the middle of the afternoon and she’d given them plenty of warning that she was coming home.

So where was everyone?

Robin dropped a bag and stepped over to the bottom of the stairs. “Hello? Ruby? Yang?” Nothing. She padded over to the kitchen, yelling, “Tai? Dad?” as she went. Still nothing and she noticed another thing. No Zwei. The happy pup loved to greet everybody that entered through the front doors with a yip and a jump. She opened the back door and noted that there was no sign of anybody and she frowned. Maybe they’d all gone out and had forgotten to tell her, taking Zwei for a walk with them. “Weird,” she whispered to herself.

She turned around and froze, wide silver eyes gleefully staring at her. Ruby was bouncing on the balls of her feet, a few rose petals floating around her and she threw her arms up and wrapped them tightly around Robin’s neck. “Surprise!”

Over Ruby’s shoulder stood Yang, Tai and her Dad in the doorway to the kitchen. Tai held a cake whilst Yang and Qrow held a present in each of their arms. “Happy Birthday,” Yang grinned at her, stepping into the kitchen to set the present down. “I wanted to decorated the place but Ruby wanted to surprise….. you…. Robin?”

She blinked at Yang and finally noticed the strange looks that Tai and Qrow were giving her. Ruby released her neck with a small, “What?” stepped back and stared at Robin with the same look.

“Oh,” Robin said, reaching up to fiddle with a loose lock of hair. “Yeah, I, I got it cut.” Instead of her normal long locks that passed her shoulders and she usually put into a side braid, her hair just about passed her ears and was too short to do anything with. She twisted a piece of hair around her finger as she nervously looked away. “I figured if I didn’t like it I had the summer to grow it out.”

“Well,” Tai said, setting the cake down onto the table as he came over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I for one think it looks nice. I think we’re all just surprised.”

“Maybe just a little bit longer,” Yang said with a cheeky grin.

“It’s fine!” Ruby shouted. “There’s nothing wrong with short hair.

Qrow rolled his eyes and sat his own present down. He pushed Ruby to one side and wrapped his arms around Robin’s shoulders and kissed her temple. “Welcome home, Little Bird.”

* * *

Robin hummed as she sat on the back porch, Zwei’s head in her lap. It had been a surprisingly long day with games and messing around with Yang and Ruby. Eventually they’d had the cherry and chocolate cake, complete with a miniature food fight as Robin had flicked a piece of cake into Yang’s face, who responded by trying to throw some back at her, getting Ruby instead. Ruby had picked up her plate and ended up catching Qrow in the face, earning a round of laughter from everybody, Tai included, before Qrow shoved the cake from his face against Tai’s chest, ruining his shirt.

Ruby had wanted to spend the rest of their evening playing video games and Robin passed it up whilst Yang promised to kick Ruby’s butt. At some point the noise had died down and Robin found herself outside, enjoying the quiet peacefulness that Patch always had. The door opened and Zwei perked his head up, saw who it was and put his head back into Robin’s lap, nudging her hand to get more head scratches from her.

She obliged with a smile, not having to lift her head to know who the footsteps belonged to. “Hey, Dad.”

“I don’t blame you for trying to get away from them. They’re a handful.”

She chuckled as he sat down on her other side and finally glanced at him. “Thank you for not getting yourself killed on any missions.”

He gave her a shocked expression and put a hand on his chest, “I’m a professional, and that is insulting.” She laughed and leaned her head on his shoulder, taking advantage of the time they had together. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and tucked her against his side, letting his fingers rub in small circles across her shoulder. “Had any more dreams?”

The smile dropped from her face and she let out a sigh, sitting up with a small nod. “A few. A Griffon in one that almost took my face off. Tawney getting stuck between two Death Stalkers. Malcolm almost shot Yahto in the face. But, there’s been a few times where I’ve been awake.”

She could feel him staring at her and she focused her attention on the happy noises Zwei was producing. “Like what?”

She shrugged and used both hands to scratch Zwei behind his ears. “We were in a cafe and I turned around and saw Raven. Looked the other way and you were there, talking. Another time I was in combat class, I blinked and suddenly I was staring down a group of creeps. I blinked again and suddenly Rima was inches away from me. We were in the Emerald forest on some trip for Professor Peach, I turned around and I was alone in a cave.” She shrugged her shoulders again and let her hands drop from Zwei’s head.

“Have you spoken to any of the teachers about this? They’ve met a lot of Huntsman and Huntresses and seen a lot of Semblances and other stuff.”

“And say what? I’m seeing things?”

“For a start, yeah.”

Robin snorted and shook her head, “No thanks. I’m crazy enough without their judgement.”

It was Qrow’s turn to let out a sigh and he ruffled a hand through her short hair. “Not all semblance’s can be controlled. Sometimes you can’t control it.”

She peered up at him curiously and said, “What’s your semblance?”

He met her gaze for several seconds before he looked away and pondered the question. “Not even your cousins know this, so don’t go around spreading this secret okay?” He looked back at her as she rolled her eyes and he couldn’t help the small smile before he dropped it and said, “Bad luck. I can’t control it, it’s always there and it affects everybody, friend and foe.”

As if on cue there was a crash from inside and both parties turned and listened to the sound of Tai cursing. Robin turned her attention back to her Father with a raised brow. “That was a coincidence.”

He chuckled and settled both of his elbows on his knees. “There’s a lot of that around me. There was one time back at Beacon, we’d been assigned a search and destroy mission. We’d been through this same forest so many times but on this day, as we were ducking and diving away from this group of Ursa’s, Tai’s foot caught a tree root and he fell. Not too bad if he didn’t then have an Ursa jump on top of him. Again, we’d been through this forest so many times and Tai knows how to pick his feet up. This other time, I’d come to visit you and your Mom and you were in bed when the lights went out. A fuse had blown in the generator.”

“Generators do that all the time.”

“Your Mom had replaced that fuse just a week ago.”

Robin poked his side with a frown, “Maybe they were all just coincidences.”

“Maybe,” he said, grabbing her wrist and pulling it away from him. “But those coincidences have been following me around since I was six. So, maybe like me you’ve got something you can’t control and it sounds like Foresight. Just, never when you want it to happen.”

Her frown deepened and she put her head in her hands, “Foresight?”

He shrugged and nudged her elbow with his. “I don’t know what else to tell you, kid. You see things happen, then they happen.” Robin leaned back and stared up at the sky. He did have a point, she’d just hoped that whenever she did get her semblance it would be something more… something. Ruby had her speed, Yang could throw double her strength back to somebody and she- she watched and waited. There was a poke to her cheek and she tilted her head to see her Dad staring at her with one raised brow. “It’s weird seeing you with short hair.”

Robin snorted and shoved him playfully. “Really?”

“You’ve always had long hair. Not as long as Yang’s, but long. It’s different.”

Unconsciously she threaded her fingers through her hair, still surprised when they stopped just above her shoulders and she shrugged her shoulders with a smile. “I wanted to try something different.” The truth was that she’d gotten sick of seeing Raven Branwen staring back at her and not Robin Branwen. She’d gotten sick of the double takes some of the teachers still did and the way even Tai and her own Dad looked at her.

He hummed and she caught the knowing look in his eyes before he stood up and held a hand out to her. “You coming inside birthday girl? Or you going to sleep under the stars?”

She brushed those thoughts away and grabbed his hand. “On one condition, old man.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and pulled her to her feet, “I’m not old.”

She grinned and said, “You let me kick your butt tomorrow.”

His lips curled into his own smirk and he nodded his head, “I’ll let you try, but I can’t make that promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry for the delay. Here's the next chapter and we're going to be jumping forward a bit cause we all know when the real interesting stuff happens right? Right?


	24. Chapter 24

“Right!” Tawney said, slamming her hands onto the table and making Malcolm jump. Robin looked up from her mouthful of food with one raised brow whilst Yahto lifted his tray off the table and continued to eat. “The Vytal tournament is coming up and I have no doubt that’ll we’ll qualify for it. But-!” she slammed her hands onto the table again, making the trays and food rattle. “-that’s not good enough. We’re team Myrtle. We need to win. We will win, even if it kills us.”

“Erm, Tawney,” Malcolm said, raising his hand, “You’re being a little over the top don’t you think?”

Tawney rounded on their leader, sticking a finger in his face with a glare, tail flipped to one side angrily, “Listen up Atlas boy. Leader or not, you need to shape us into a winning state. You should be rallying behind me on this. We need to win. We don’t lose cause losers die and we don’t want to die. Do you want to die? I didn’t think so.”

Robin stared, fork frozen halfway to her mouth before she said, “Did something happen over Summer break?”

“We slacked off!” she said, slamming her fists onto the table again. “And it isn’t good enough.”

“T,” Yahto said, setting his tray back down with careful ease. “We have like six months to practice. It’s our first day back, chill.”

Tawney’s eyes narrowed dangerously as she rounded on Yahto and a chill swept down Robin’s spine from that look. “You’re the weak link in this team and we all know it,” she threatened.

Robin shook her head and stuffed another forkful of food into her mouth. She glanced back up as Yahto took offence to Tawney’s words and she frowned, blinking at the way everything seemed to shift out of focus into a motion of blurs with a few seconds of differences between the start and the end of the blur. She screwed her eyes shut, opened them again and the world was right again. She blinked and glanced around the cafeteria, drowning out Yahto and Tawney’s argument with a frown as she tried to work out what had just happened.

She came back into the conversation just as Tanwey slapped Yahto’s face with her tail whilst Malcolm tried to calm the girl down. Robin couldn’t help but to look around herself again, still confused by what had just happened before she chalked it up to tiredness and went back to her lunch, watching the exchange between her team mates.

* * *

Robin rolled underneath the swing from Ash’s sword and stopped on her knees, turning her body and staff to swipe him from off his feet. She swung herself up onto her feet and stepped back as he tried to kick out at her. She glanced at the screen, showing their aura levels and turned back just as Ash got to his feet and charged at her, sword held low to the ground. She hefted her staff up and threw it at him, aiming directly for his chest. He side stepped out of the way and she rushed at him too, jumping over him and reaching for her staff again, turning with it held out in front of her.

Ash was in her face and she stepped back, raising her hands up to stop his attack, except she hit air. “Wha-” she managed before he elbowed her in the stomach, swung his sword round and caught her off guard and in the arm, making her stumble back. He was there again, sword raised to come down directly on top of her and she raised her hands up to block him again but he wasn’t there, coming down against her side.

She dodged it this time and took several steps back to get a full look at the situation. Once more he was in her space, sword coming round to hit her left side again and she held her staff out to block that attack before there was a blur coming into her other side and she felt him hit her right side and send her stumbling. Robin frowned as she regained her balance, heard his footsteps coming at her and she glanced over her shoulder, timing the jump. Her vision blurred again and she gritted her teeth before she slammed the end of her staff into the ground, gripped it tightly and jumped, throwing her feet back and over, aiming for his head.

She caught air and he caught her on her descent, sending her rolling across the floor, weapon gone from her hands.

“And that concludes the match,” Professor Goodwitch announced and Robin groaned as she climbed to her feet and glanced at the screen. Her aura had dropped and she frowned at the results. She hadn’t done that badly since she started at Signal. “There’s still time to improve before the qualifying rounds of the tournament Miss Branwen, don’t let this dishearten you.”

Robin looked back at the room and she screwed her eyes shut at her blurry vision. It had been a month since they’d come back to school and her vision had been playing up like there was no tomorrow and it was starting to give her headaches. There was one time her nose had started to bleed and Yahto had brought her attention to it with concern. She looked away, searching for her weapon and reached out for it, closing her eyes at the last second as her hand seemed to move frame by frame, letting her see each frame at the same time. “Yeah,” she said, not paying any interest as she stared at the floor on her way out, Goodwitch already announcing the next round.

She didn’t look back up until she was at the benches and she glanced around for her team mates, seeing Malcolm scoot up to give her some room. Once she sat down Tawney grabbed her shoulders from behind and quietly hissed into her ear, “What the hell was that bird brain?”

“Losing,” Robin hissed back. She looked back to the main arena to see a couple of other students taking their turn in fighting each other and she screwed her eyes shut, shook Tawney’s hands off of her and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and her head bowed.

“Are you okay?” Yahto asked and Robin shook her head. There was a niggling ache at the back of her head and she lifted her head to look back at the match. She blinked a few times before she was sure that everything seemed to be back to normal and she sat up.

Tawney moved benches so that she was on Robin’s other side and she nudged her with her elbow, “Maybe you should see the nurse.”

“I’ll think about it,” she mumbled, the ache finally subsiding.

“There’s no _thinking_ about it,” Malcolm said. “You’re going after this class, even if we have to drag you there.”

“We need you on top form for Vytal,” Tawney said.

Robin shrugged her shoulders and sat up, trying her best to focus on the match. They’d already been to the nurse once who didn’t know what to say and she was sure it would be the same response this time.

* * *

Robin stared at her scroll, silently begging her Dad to pick up. He would have some idea to what it was right? It had been another month since that match in Goodwitch’s class and the blurred, double vision she was seeing was a constant now. Everything was a blur as if she was watching everything twice, once then on a two second delay, as if the world was catching up with itself. It had been giving her a headache more than once and there was one occasion she almost fainted from how dizzy it had made her.

And that was just walking through the halls of the school. Combat was something she didn’t dare attempt. If she couldn’t walk down a corridor without feeling motion sick then there was no way she was going to be able to handle throwing a few punches.

The worst of it all was that she was letting her team down. Right now, she was useless and helpless, and with the Vytal tournament coming up, something they’d all been looking forward to, she was sure they weren’t going to be able to qualify because of her state.

She put her scroll away and leaned back, eyes fixed on the broken moon above her. At least she could still sneak away from their dorm room and get ten minutes to herself. Even after explaining it to her team nobody could come up with what it was.

“ _Maybe a Semblance?” Tawney had suggested._

“ _I’ve never heard of a Semblance rendering somebody useless,” Yahto has commented._

_Robin rolled her eyes, “Jeez, thanks, Yahto.”_

_Malcolm shrugged, “Maybe one of the teachers will have an idea. Maybe even Ozpin.”_

_She laid back down on the bed, one arm over her eyes as she tried to ignore the light-headedness that was taking over, “You do that. I’ll be here, feeling sorry for myself.”_

The only good thing was that the dreams had stopped, so that was something. She let out a sigh and looked back at her scroll, her Dad’s words coming back to her from her birthday. “Foresight,” she whispered, “I see things then they happen.” It was the best explanation she had so far and she pondered over how she would learn to cope with it if this really was what it was going to be like.

The door to the roof opened and Robin glanced over to see Malcolm standing there. He looked around before he spotted her and he gave her a tight smile, waved and sat down next to her. “You know you can’t spend the rest of your time hiding here. You have to face the world at some point.”

“I can try.”

He sighed and she refused to look at him. Not out of spite but the fact that he was blurred, as if he was always moving. “Let us help you, okay? We want to help you. You’re our team mate and friend, we’re not going to just let you suffer alone.” She ducked her head and played with her thumbs. “We can practice up here where nobody can see us, just you and me if you really want. Whatever is happening seems to be sticking around so, let’s get you used to it and able to stand it. What do you say?”

Robin finally looked at him and she pursed her lips. One thing she did always admire about Malcolm was his kind nature and she couldn’t help the small smile she let out. “Fine, but we stay up here.”

He beamed at her and nodded his head as he stood up, holding a hand out to her, “So let’s get started.”

“Right now?”

“Right now.”

She stared up at him for a moment before she grabbed his outstretched hand and let him pull her up. “Right now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're going to be doing some time skips. Otherwise it would be a lot of rinsing and repeating and we all know why you're really here. I hope you enjoyed.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me a little longer to get this up but I hope you like it.

_Robin fell back with an ‘Oomph, Malcolm’s arm still in her vision… Her legs were taken out from underneath her as her feet touched the floor, her jumped timed far too early… His elbow connected with her cheek, sending her stumbling back… Her staff swiped at nothing on her swing, leaving her hanging as Malcolm brought his bow down on top of her swing, bringing her arms down and he twisted, making her lose her balance and fall to the floor… She swung, missed his head and felt him headbutt her chin… She stepped back and he shifted instantly to kick her in her stomach… Robin took a deep breath, stepped back and hesitated before she brought her hand up, finally connecting with Malcolm’s face… Malcolm’s fist came directly to her face and she side stepped, felt the air brush past her cheek and swung to hit her staff against his back…_

Robin threw herself onto her bed with a deep sigh and buried her face in her pillow. It had been a painful two months of headaches, dizziness and getting her ass handed to her, but finally she had some idea of how her new semblance worked. All with a week to spare before the first round of the tournament. Whilst Yahto and Tawney had spent their free time exploring the lands of Atlas, where the thirty-ninth tournament was taking place, Robin and Malcolm had been practising and training, getting Robin back to her form before her semblance threw her back six steps. Right now, she was ready to sleep for a week and let somebody wake her up when it was their time to fight.

The door to their temporary accommodations was kicked open and Robin jumped, pulling the pillow over her face and refusing to acknowledge the land of the living. Every muscle ached and she was ready to sink into oblivion to ease the pain. “Bird brain!” Suddenly Tawney landed on top of her, catching her elbows in Robin’s stomach with a giggle whilst Robin huffed and groaned, shoving Tawney away from her.

“I’m busy dying here, leave me alone.” She rolled over to face the wall and buried her head back under the pillow. She’d finished her recent sparring session with Malcolm less than twenty minutes ago and she’d only just made it to her room whilst he’d said something about visiting his folks.

Tawney prodded her side and a bag landed on Robin’s head. “Whilst you two were busy getting you fighting fit, I went out and bought you a dress.”

That had Robin’s attention and she sat up, the bag falling into her lap. She glared down at it and lifted her red eyes to glare at Tawney, “A what?”

“A dress,” she stated, matter of fact, “for the dance tomorrow night?”

“Oh,” she looked back down at the bag and pushed it to one side. In truth she hadn’t planned to go. Whilst she could fight in a one and one battle, it still ached her head to walk the corridors and she’d spent a lot of her time staring at the floor, only glancing up to make sure she wasn’t going to bump into anyone or anything.

“No,” Tawney said, “don’t even think of saying no. You’re going and I will drag you by your tail feathers if I have to.”

Robin reached to pull on Tawney’s hair with a frown, “Listen, Kitty, I am dead on my feet. I want to sleep for an eternity, so let me.”

Tawney latched onto Robin’s wrist and twisted it away from herself, “Nope. We’re going dancing, now get dressed. I chose something that will make _all_ of the boys purr for you.”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re creepy?”

“All the time! But it’s just a compliment by now.” She slapped Robin’s shoulder, “Get dressed! I want to see it on you, I want to see you turn heads tomorrow, especially a certain blonde head.”

Robin’s cheeks warmed up at that comment and she shoved Tawney in the shoulder, “Are you done?” She let out a sigh and grabbed the bag, curiously glancing inside to get a peek at what exactly Tawney had bought for her, “Besides, we both know he’s probably got about four dates lined up already.”

Tawney deflated and snatched the bag out of Robin’s hand as she stood up, a small shrug in her shoulders, “Well let’s make him regret those dates.” She yanked the dress out of the bag and held it up for Robin to see and once she got a proper look at it her mouth fell open. “What do you think?”

“No.”

“Robin-”

“No!”

“It looks better on. Trust me on this, you’ll look amazing.”

Robin snatched it away with a grumble and held the brown fabric in her hands before she side eyed Tawney, “What are you wearing?”

The Faunus grinned and grabbed another bag, pulling out a strappy green dress that stopped just above Tawney’s knees. “What do you think?”

Robin tilted her head to one side and nodded her head once, “It’s okay.”

Tawney’s eyes narrowed and she huffed, “You have no fashion sense. Now get dressed and thank me for how perfect that dress is for you.”

Robin rolled her eyes and climbed out of bed, stretching her hands above her hand with a yawn before she eyed the dress again. It was in a deep bronze brown and floor length. With a sigh she tossed it onto the bed and started to change, her back to Tawney as she did so. Five minutes of adjusting later and she smoothed the front door, refusing to admit that maybe the cat did have some taste. It hugged her a little more tightly than she would have liked, but the v-neck and the mid-thigh split made her feel good in it.

“Turn, birdie, I want to see the front too.”

She obliged, exaggerating an eye roll as she faced the green haired girl, feeling the air kiss across the middle of her back thanks to the open back on the dress. “You happy?”

Tawney beamed, hands clasped in front of her face and jumped up and down on the spot, “Oh you look good. So good. I knew it would look good on you.” Robin glanced down at herself again and smoothed her hands over the silky fabric, admiring the accentuation it gave her. “Now we just need to do something with your hair.”

* * *

Robin let out a breath as she gripped the railing, the quiet balcony a welcome relief to the noise coming from inside of the great hall behind her. It was a nice party and the atmosphere was great from everybody, but the number of people was slowly taking a toll on her head. She hummed as she folded her arms on top of one another, her eyes taking in the Atlesian scenery. It certainly was something and gave her a distraction from the scene she had left inside: Malcolm being dragged onto the dance floor by one of the prettiest girls in Beacon, somebody who’d had their eyes on him since they’d all started. There was something wholesome that dragged her into his warm smiles. He was always honest with them and had an almost shy nature about him. Since they’d first met he hadn’t shied away from her or stared at her face like most other people had. He hadn’t prodded and poked her for answers and hadn’t show discrimination or prejudice to any of his team mates, despite how different they were to him. The past two months had only made her feelings for him more apparent to herself, with him dedicating his free time to helping her better herself rather than spending it with the line of girls that were ready and waiting for him to say yes, made her stomach flutter and her nerves begin to play up.

There was the swish of the door behind her and she glanced over her shoulder to see an old face greet her with a low whistle, earning a roll of her eyes as she turned away. “Nice to see you too, Blaine.”

He came to a stand next to her and wrapped one arm over her shoulders, pulling her against her side, “Come on, Robin, when was the last time I saw you wear something like _that_.”

She shrugged his hand off, remembering how little personal space meant to him and straightened up, folding her arms over her chest to take in his suit, complete with tie. “For a guy who shuns uniforms, you’re doing pretty well yourself.”

“Suits are for special occasions, such as dances to charm the ladies.” He winked at her and she chuckled, lightly punching his arm with a grin. “Did you know that Lynae and Bahul got together?”

“Are you surprised?”

He shrugged his shoulder, “Don’t even get me started on April. I bumped into her before and Atlas has already got inside of her head.”

Robin chuckled and shook her head, “You’re such a dramatist.” She leant back on the rail and nudged her hip against Blaine’s, enjoying a throwback to Signal. It made her stomach feel warm with the familiarity she was finding herself in. “How’s Shade? Everything you thought it would be?”

He scoffed, “And more. It’s amazing, I mean the scenery could be better. There’s a lot of sand, desert storms and empty space completely overrun by Grimm, but it’s great. Tell me, are your new friends anything like us?”

She tilted her head to one side and held a hand flat in the air, “Eh? They’re interesting but I wouldn’t change them for the world.”

“Tell.”

“One’s a cat, the other’s from Atlas then Yahto’s… Yahto.”

He stared at her for a moment before he pointed at her, “That’s the best you can do?”

She shrugged, “What do you want me to say?”

Somebody cleared their throat behind them and they both turned to see Malcolm standing there, staring at them with a sheepish smile on his face. “Hey,” he started, holding a hand out to Blaine, “I’m Malcolm.”

Blaine arched one brow and eyed the hand for a second before he took it with a grin, “Blaine.”

Robin thumbed a hand in Malcolm’s direction and said, “Atlas boy.”

Malcolm let out a breath and shook his head whilst Blaine grinned, “Nice to meet you. Catch you later, Robin.”

“Promise to kick your ass.” Blaine waved a hand over his shoulder with a chuckle as the door closed behind him and Robin grinned before she turned to Malcolm curiously, “Hiding from your date?”

He frowned at her and pointed back to the great hall and said, “Olive? She’s not my date.”

Robin raised her brows and settled herself back into leaning on the rail, “Oh?”

“She dragged me onto the dance floor and wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“I bet that upset your actual date.”

“Well,” he started, a hint of hesitation and nerves in his voice, “actually I don’t have a date.”

That made her frown, “You? Without a date? Really?”

He shrugged and said, “I’ve been training for so long with the girl I wanted to ask to the dance that I kinda _forgot_ to ask her.”

Robin nodded her head and stared at her shoes, amazed that she hadn’t tripped in the heels Tawney had forced her to wear, before she froze, her mind back tracking over what he had just said. She stood up, her cheeks warming as she replayed those words in her head and looked over his nervous expression and own pinked cheeks. “What?” she blurted after a few seconds of silence.

He scratched the back of his neck with a shrug, “All of the other girls want me either for my looks or for what my name brings with it. You had no idea where I came from when you found out my name and you didn’t care who I was. You treated me like you did everybody else, not somebody to cozy up to based on how I look or where I’m from. I was just another person to you.”

Something in her mind had short circuited a long time ago as she stared at him, eyes wide and her neck flushing the same colour as her cheeks. Her mouth was dry and her voice refused to work to utter anything other than another small, “What?”

He scanned her face for a few seconds before he turned away with a small whisper of, “I imagined this going differently in my head.”

He took a step away from her and she panicked, her heart racing with the thought that she messed up by not saying anything more. She snatched his wrist and stopped him in his tracked, attracting his attention again. The longer he stared at her the more her mind blacked out and she couldn’t think. She ducked her eyes and licked her lips, willing herself to say something that was even half of the confession that he had just told her and before she knew it she whispered to the floor, just loud enough for him to hear, “Me too.” A moment passed and she looked up at him, this territory they were toeing the line of completely new to her and she managed a warm smile, “Me too.”

Malcolm grinned and stopped in front of her, turning his wrist so that he could entwine his fingers with hers. “You look amazing in that dress by the way.”

If it was possible her cheeks turned a darker shade of red and she lifted a hand to tug at his tie, red eyes fixed on the purple material. “And you look really good in a suit.”

“Hey Robin?” She hummed as she lifted her gaze up to be met by his baby blues. When had he gotten so close that she could feel the heat of his body? “Can, can I kiss you?”

Her hand tugged on his tie and she met him halfway, pressing her lips to his in a single, firm kiss. The moment seemed to last forever and when they pulled away Robin realised that one of his hands was on her waist and the other on her cheek with the scar, whilst she had one hand on the back of his neck and the other still firmly gripped his tie. Her lips tugged up into a smile and she gently tilted her head into his hand, “Does that mean that I’m your date?”

“As long as it’s everyday.”

She couldn’t help the small chuckle she let out and nodded her head, “Idiot.”

He grabbed her hand and gently tugged her towards the door, “Come on, I want to show you off to everyone.”

The blush was back on her cheeks and she chewed on her bottom lip as she linked her arm with his as he led the way back into the great hall, looking forward to the next two years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who want to know, I imagine her dress to look something like this: https://www.dressywomen.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/0/4/04007031.jpg
> 
> And for Robin as a reference: https://imgur.com/a/bAhh2Xz


	26. Chapter 26

Robin jumped back, arching her back to avoid the swing of the axe as it missed her head. There was another swing and she counted, one, before she stepped back again, bringing her staff up to block the next attack. She stepped into it and grinned at her opponent as she pushed forward, pushing their momentum off and making them stumble back. The ground by her feet exploded from a stray bullet and she glanced to her left to see a dual pistol wielding student aiming at her. “Got you!” Tawney shouted, appearing out of nowhere with her morning star aimed directly at pistol guys feet.

“Had it!” Robin shouted back, turning just as the axe swung down in front of her and the end lodged itself in the floor by her feet. She smirked back up at the girl before it quickly disappeared.

“And I’ve got you,” axe girl said, a grin curling her lips before she flicked a switch and the floor exploded by Robin’s feet.

She was thrown through the air and she panicked for a few seconds, trying to work out which way was up before somebody collided with her and dragged her back down to the ground with them. Once she was on her feet she looked up to see Malcolm looking around them, already preparing an arrow, “You good?”

Robin readied her staff and nodded, glancing to the screen that showed their aura levels. “I’m good.” She was at less than half, that hit definitely taking a fair chunk out of her. She let out a breath and looked back up to the arena to see what state their other team mates were in and she panicked at the sudden sight of a Nevermore. A gasp escaped her as she stumbled back a few steps before she screwed her eyes shut and looked back up to see that it was gone.

“Robin?”

She took a deep breath and shook her head, “M’fine, just a Nevermore.” With another breath she gripped her staff and looked towards her next target.

“That’s not reassuring,” Malcolm said as she ran off, jumping over an arc of dust-created ice.

* * *

“Should we be worried?” Tawney mumbled around a mouthful of noodles. She slurped the last few strands up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Robin arched one brow at Tawney’s actions and shook her head, “If a Nevermore can get through Atlas’ border and defences, I’d be impressed.”

“At least you’re back to fighting,” Yahto said as he pushed his own bowl away from himself.

“Speaking of fighting,” Tawney said, turning to face Malcolm, “Who’s in round two?”

Malcolm looked at each member of his team before he held his hands up with a shrug, “You two?” he pointed between Robin and Tawney.

Tawney held her fists up with a grin, “Yes!”

Robin glanced up at Yahto and shrugged her shoulders, “If you’re alright with that Yahto?”

He waved a hand at her and shook his head, “I don’t care. But know this, that if you lose, you two will forever be failures in my heart.”

“Pfft,” Tawney said, “you don’t have a heart.”

* * *

Robin slouched in her seat, her head resting in her hand with her fingers on her forehead, trying to block out the majority of the stadium. They’d made it through the second round and right now, Tawney was in a one versus one match up. Since the two versus two, Robin’s head had been pounding, the mass of people hindering her and giving her one hell of a migraine. There was a nudge from her left and she lifted her head to look up at Malcolm and he offered her a worried smile, “You okay?”

“I’ll survive,” she mumbled, settling herself back down with her head in her hand, eyes focused on Tawney’s figure. It looked as though it was going to be an even match until the floor was swiped out from underneath her and a kick was placed against her stomach, sending her flying across the floor. Robin looked up at the board and her head started to swim. With a wince she stood up and ducked her head, “I’m going to get some fresh air. You two cheer her on for me okay?”

“Just don’t vomit!” Yahto called out to her.

“We’ll let you know as soon as it’s over,” Malcolm said.

Robin made her way out of the stands with a small smile on her face, her eyes focused on the floor. Once she could hear the cheers behind her she leant back against the wall of the corridor and hung her head, enjoying the soothing coolness of the wall. She sat herself on the floor and pulled out her scroll, deciding to flick through the messages her family had sent her, smiling at the praises and celebrations for making it through to the final, even if she wasn’t the one in the actual final.

There were a few pictures she needed to catch up on, Ruby wearing a cloak that looked surprisingly close to Qrow’s, Yang’s new weapons that she wore, Zwei, another Zwei, Tai wrapping his arms around the girls, there was even a picture of Qrow being smothered by Ruby around his neck. The smile on her face couldn’t be helped and chose a picture of Ruby and Yang pulling silly faces at the screen as her new background.

She started to type out a reply, letting them know what Atlas was like and the other students they’d met from the other Academies when somebody’s footsteps stopped in front of her. Robin paused to look up and her eyes widened at the sight of General Ironwood. _The_ General Ironwood. He almost looked concerned as he peered down at her with furrowed brows, “Is everything okay?”

Robin blinked before she shook her head and remembered her manners. “Yeah,” she said, “I’m fine. Just enjoying the fresh air.”

He smiled at her and nodded his head, crisp uniform creasing ever so slightly from the movement, “I understand what you mean. These kind of events can get a little crowded at times.”

She shrugged a shoulder with a half smile, “Something like that.”

He hummed and glanced towards the entrance to the Arena before he flicked his attention back to her. “Robin Branwen was it?”

“Yes Sir,” she said with another, feeling a little out of place that she was still sat on the floor whilst speaking up to the General.

“You wouldn’t happen to be related to Qrow Branwen would you?”

Those words made her stomach drop. There were some who had heard of the Branwen name and associated it with a drunken Huntsman with no manners or care for authority. Normally it never bothered her, either brushing it off or agreeing with a proud nod. But the fact that _The. General. Ironwood_ knew who her father was only filled her with dread. “So what if I am,” she started without realising exactly what she was saying, “are we going to have a problem?”

The corners of his lips twitched into a smile and she swore she heard a tiny chuckle. “Not at all. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in Atlas.”

She blinked as she watched him carry on his path of the outer platform, saying hi to any groups of students he passed or any guards on duty. “Huh,” she mumbled to herself before she went back to her scroll, tacking onto the end of her message that General Ironwood seemed okay. She sent the message and leaned her head back against the wall with a small sigh. The pounding was gone and she could herself think again.

There was a series of loud cheers and she lifted her head towards the stadium entrance. A few seconds later her scroll buzzed and she looked down to see a new message from Malcolm, _We’re out_. Robin shrugged. There was always next time, and they made it to the final rounds, that was something. With a hum she pushed herself to her feet and stretched her arms over her head and settled her hands behind her head, eyes focused on the sky. A bird chirped and she raised one brow and tilted her head curiously. Something seemed strange about it and she narrowed her eyes at it curiously, watching as it tilted its head to one side.

Something crashed into her and a pair of arms were around her neck, doing their best to strangle all of the air out of her lungs. Robin lifted her hands to grab onto the arms of whoever had tackled her before there was a cry in her ear, “I lost! I’m a loser! Promise you won’t hate me Robby, please don’t hate me!”

Tawney’s arms finally loosened up a little and Robin turned her head with a raised brow, lifting one hand to mess with Tawney’s fringe, “I’ll always love you. No matter what.”

The arms tightened again as Malcolm and Yahto came into view and Tawney stuck her tongue out at Malcolm, “She’s mine, Atlas.”

He held his hands up with a small chuckle and shrugged his shoulders, “You can borrow her.”

“And you clearly didn’t hear me. _She. Is. Mine._ ”

Robin turned towards Yahto and held a hand out to him, “Help me.”

He took a step back, both arms crossed over his chest, “Not even going there.”

“Come on!” Tawney shouted, wrapping her arms around Robin’s arm and tugging her towards the airships. “I want to take one more look around Atlas before we have to leave.”

“As long as you buy me some chocolate.”

“Pfft, I bought you that dress, I’m not buying you anything else.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Christmas is coming up and I'll be doing a special one off Christmas chapter. If you want anything in particular, let me know and I'll do my best!!


	27. Chapter 27

Tawney was curled up, her back to the wall and her arms curled protectively around her pillow. Yahto had one leg draped over the side of the bed, the sheets only half covering his body as he slept on his back with one arm over his face. Malcolm slept on his front, one arm hanging over the side of the bed and the sheet pulled almost all of the way over his head. Robin on the other hand was the only one to make any noise in team Myrtle’s dorm room, her face screwed up with small gasps escaping her. She twisted from one side to the other, one hand fisted into the sheets and the other struggling to find air underneath the sheet as she kicked her feet out.

“N-n-no… r-r-ru…” she whimpered, her breath catching in her throat with every syllable. “No- no- no- no…. Open… open….”

Malcolm screwed his face up and twisted his head into his pillow. A few moments later there were more cries and he lifted his head with a low groan. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark and another moment to locate the source of the moans and he squinted over at Robin’s twisting form. “Robin?” he whispered, sitting up and pushing his sheets back to look over at her.

“Pl.. please… jus- just open… open them… please… no- no- no- come on… come on…”

She writhed, sheets twisting even more around herself as she tried to get away from whatever she was dreaming about. “Robin?” Malcolm tried again, a little louder and he finally stood up, stepping over to her with furrowed brows. “Robin?” he tried again, setting a hand on her shoulder and he noticed the tears that were running down her face. He dropped himself onto the side of the bed and grabbed both of her shoulders, giving her a gentle shake. “Hey, wake up, open your eyes.”

“Do it.. just please… please… do it.”

“Robin,” Malcolm said, shaking her gently again.

Red eyes snapped open and she jerked up, her shoulder bumping violently into his as she gasped for breath, shoulders shaking with the effort. He grabbed onto her, whispering into her ear as she started to wriggle in his grasp, “It’s just me, just me, relax, relax. I’ve got you.” The more he whispered those same words at her the more she started to relax, and slowly her arms came up to grab onto him as she buried her face into his shoulder. He rubbed soothing circles across the middle of her back and kept his hold on her until she stopped shaking. “You okay?” At first she didn’t move, but when he repeated himself she shrugged a shoulder and eased her grip on his shirt, fingers pressing firmly against his sides. “Want to talk about it?”

She slowly shook her head, keeping her face firmly pressed against him. “N-not yet,” she whispered, nuzzling against his neck. “Maybe later.”

“Okay,” he whispered, kissing her temple. “Want me to stay?” Robin nodded and slipped her arms from around him as she finally sat back, her face stained from the tears. She wiped at her face and brushed her hair back, avoiding his gaze as she did so. She shuffled over so that she was pressed against the wall and laid down, her back to him. Malcolm let out a small breath and climbed into bed behind her, laying a hand on her shoulder. She grabbed it and wrapped it around her so that she could link their fingers in front of them and shuffled until her back was pressed against his chest. He brushed his nose against the back of her neck and placed a gentle kiss there before he laid his head down. “Fancy talking yet?” he mumbled, squeezing her fingers.

He could feel her tense up for a moment before she shook her head and shifted in her place. “Just want to sleep,” she slurred tiredly.

“Okay,” he hummed, making a mental note to get five minutes together before their new mission tomorrow.

* * *

Robin couldn’t stop feeling goosebumps all along her arms and the back of her neck. They were six months into their third year. They had all come a long way since they started the year and Robin had been clean of her terrible dreams for fourteen months. Fourteen sweet, blissful nights of sleep with no crazy dreams.

Somebody nudged her shoulder and she looked up to see Malcolm next to her with a soft smile. They were at the back of the hall, waiting for Ozpin to give them some kind of speech before they selected their mission. She gave him a small wave and said, “Hey.”

“So,” he started, “what happened?”

She looked away him, the dream coming back to her in full force. Robin took a deep breath and glanced away, stuffing her hands into her pockets. “We were on a mission and we were split up. You and Yahto, me and Tawney. We were in a cave, I don’t know where you were, but there was some kind of Grimm in the cave, blending in almost perfectly. It took out the Huntsman we were with then worked on throwing me and Tawney across the place. It was messy, bloody and I definitely don’t want to see that happen again.”

After a full minute of silence she peeked up at him with a raised brow and Malcolm gave his head a small shake. “Any idea which mission it was?”

A sigh escaped her and she shook her head, “Even if I did, could I really make somebody else go through that? At least I’d have some sort of warning.”

“Robin-”

“I mean it,” she mumbled, eyes fixed on the floor. “if we avoid that, it would just happen to somebody else, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.” He grabbed her wrist and she shrugged him off, “Just choose a mission. If we’re lucky it won’t even be today.”

Malcolm let out a breath, “Okay, just, try not to think about it. Maybe it won’t even happen right?”

She offered him a small smile and nodded her head, “Yeah, maybe. Like that Nevermore during the Vytal tournament?”

“Exactly,” he grinned.

* * *

Search and Rescue. A couple of Huntsmen had taken a mission on the most northern parts of Vale and hadn’t returned. The local villagers on the small island had steered clear of the northern coastal area that had been subject to mysterious monstrous yells, the main reason the Huntsmen had gone out there. They were accompanying two Huntsmen on this mission to find out what had happened.

They’d started their mission in the only village, gathering as much information as they could, earning nothing more than a general direction and vague descriptions of what they people had been wearing before they’d gone missing. “Okay,” Iris Everdean had said, rifle hooked over one shoulder as she eyed the four students. They’d managed to find an old campsite and were using it to rest for the night. There were a lot of hills, trees and cliff faces which had worn them all out and slowed them down. “We’ll cover the night in three shifts of two. Which two of you wish to volunteer for the first shift?”

Yahto raised his hand and Tawney stepped forward with a grin. “We’ll do it,” he said.

Iris nodded and pointed to Malcolm, “Then you’ll cover the second shift with Brian and you’ll,” she said, pointing to Robin, “will cover the third shift with me. Now, each shift will be two and a half hours long and those on watch will position themselves on either side of the camp.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Malcolm said.

Brian stepped forward, axe in hand as he peered around them, “We need somebody to collect firewood with me whilst somebody gets food cooking. Iris, relax a little,” Brian grinned at Iris, placing a hand on her arm.

She shrugged his arm off of her and stomped over to their bags, “I’ll relax when the mission is over.”

Brian rolled his eyes and turned to team MYRTle, holding a hand to his mouth as he hissed, “She’s not always this moody. Trust me.” He finished it with a wink and stepped over towards Iris.

Tawney stepped back and whispered to the rest of her team, “They’re a bit odd.”

“I like them,” Robin said with a small smile.

Malcolm shrugged, “Either way, we’re here to learn from them.”

Robin nodded her head and ambled over to Brian, deciding to gather firewood with him. She gave him a small nod as she passed him and headed towards the bushes and hedges a few yards away. They’d passed a few trees back that way so hopefully there’d be plenty for them to pick at. She heard the crunch of footsteps on loose dirt and leaves and slowed down until Brian was next to her and she glanced up at him. There was something creeping up his neck and she narrowed her eyes for a moment before she froze, recognising the tattoo.

Brian took six more steps before he stopped and turned to face her, one brow arched curiously. “Is everything okay? Robin wasn’t it?”

She blinked, her mind flashing back to the image of a bloody and mangled face with that tattoo being the only thing she recognised, and she shook her head, shoulders slumped. “Yeah,” she said with a small mumble, brushing past him.

“Okay,” he said, extending it several letters. “Do you have a semblance yet? When students choose their missions we get to read their files, which includes weapons, talents, families, semblances and anything else we may need to kno-”

“No,” she hissed, glaring at the floor. It was a big fat lie, but she’d only just gotten used to her semblance that explaining it seemed like another feat in itself, something she wasn’t ready to repeat every time somebody asked her.

“Right, next question,” she rolled her eyes and ducked down, reaching for a few loose sticks, “is Qrow really as drunk as everybody says he is?”

“Yep,” she said, popping the ‘p’ with a sigh. “Next question.”

“That’s it, for now.” She glanced over at him with a raised brow and he held his hands up with a grin, “A guy knows when to stop okay.”

* * *

“Great,” Brian said, dropping his axe to his side. It was day two and they’d moved on, Tawney complaining that they hadn’t had a chance to do much yet whilst Robin lagged behind, begging everything in her to be wrong.

“We’ll split up,” Iris said, eyeing the two paths that were open to them; further up the cliffs or into the cave. “Myrtle, choose which two you think would suit the cave better and why?”

The team shared a look and Tawney almost glared at Iris. Malcolm was the one who spoke, clearing his throat as he pointed to Tawney, “Faunus,” and he pointed to himself, giving Robin a quick glance, “I can use my arrows to light the path in front of us.”

Robin narrowed her eyes at him and turned her attention to the cave. Was that what would be different? Would he be able to get them a glance at any danger before it arrived. There was a flash of movement in front of her and she blinked her eyes to see the same scene she’d dreamt before, only this time Malcolm had taken her place. Her heart stopped for a moment, eyes widening at the gory scene in front of her and she took a shaky step back from the scene.

“Miss Branwen!”

She snapped her head round and noticed that everybody was looking at her. She straightened up and gave the entrance a quick glance, the scene gone, and cleared her throat, “We’re partners,” she pointed between Tawney and herself, “we work around each other a lot better then them.”

“Robin,” Malcolm started.

Tawney slapped a hand over his mouth and grinned, tail flicking happily behind her, “She’s right. We’re like twins. I’d rather have Robin watching my back then Malcolm, no offence, _leader_.”

There were a few hesitant gazes flicking between the three of them before Iris shrugged a shoulder and pointed her rifle towards the cliff path, “Yahto and Malcolm, with me. Brian, look after them.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Brian said with a cheeky grin as he started towards the cave.

Robin felt somebody tug on her arm and she turned to see Malcolm giving her a pointed look. She shook her head and grabbed his hand to give his fingers a small squeeze, “We’ll be fine.”

“Move it before we lose daylight!” Iris shouted.

“You better be,” Malcolm warned before he ran to catch up to Yahto and Iris.

Tawney tugged on Robin’s arm, rushing them towards Brian who stood at the entrance, waiting for them. “Before we go in,” he said, holding an arm out across the entrance, “I want to make sure we’re aware of the best way to handle caves or any scenarios where sight is limited.”

“Have a kitty cat with you,” Robin said, gesturing a thumb to Tawney to try to hide the hammering of her heart.

Tawney responded with a punch to Robin’s shoulder, “Birdbrain,” with a hiss.

Brian let out a chuckle and shook his head, “Plenty of light at a distance. Flares are handy if you have them or sticking along one side of the wall so that you know your way in and out if there’s trouble. Other than that, there isn’t much more than experience to go on.”

Tawney poked Robin’s arm once Brian had turned to the face of the cave and she whispered, “What was that about?”

“Nothing,” Robin muttered.

There was a moment before Tawney said, “Oh no. No, no, no, no, I know that look. Robin Branwen, what is it?”

“Ladies,” Brian called. Robin shook Tawney’s arm away and hurried on, staff out in one hand and eyes glaring at the darkness. The more they ventured in the colder the air got and the darker their steps. It was getting more and more difficult to see each other, even with the torch Brian had made and Robin couldn’t be sure if they were heading down, up or still on the same level. It felt endless and it looked as such and Tawney had confirmed seeing what looked like footprints in the dirt, only spurring them on.

It had been about an hour before they stopped, Brian pulling his scroll out to get a crackling message out to Iris that they were still venturing deep inside. He guessed they’d walked about eight miles and Tawney peered around them. The noise was cut out with a final crackle before the silence came back and the darkness pressed against them. “Okay,” he said, “let’s-”

The sound of stones falling attracted all of their attention and Robin span, staff gripped in both hands and eyes focused. Tawney was on her right and Brian on her left, both of them matching her stance and wariness. Brian scoffed, “Probably just rats,” before he relaxed a fraction and turned round.

Robin followed him with her eyes and her heart jumped. Something black and heavy came searing across his body and swiping him away. The quick flicker of black gave her enough time to rush forward and shove him hard into his chest and make him stumble back, except she’d overstepped and she was thrown against the cave wall instead. Something was wrapped around her ankle and she was thrown the opposite way, her aura crackling around her as it disappeared and something cracked in her body, pain flaring across her body.

The floor came next as she was sent rolling across it and the taste of copper invaded her mouth. “Robin!” Tawney shouted, gun going off with a painful echo.

Robin lifted her head warily, the vague figures of Tanwey and Brian shifting and she had to keep one pressed closed due to the blood. "No," she whispered, voice hurting with the effort, "no, no, no," she spluttered out before she winced and ducked her head. Everything was heavy and there was a deafening roar, knocking her back and causing the final strength in her body to vanish, darkness encompassing her vision and taking her into a painless oblivion.


	28. Chapter 28

Everything was muffled, distorted. It felt as though she was treading water and the slightest movement made her body sing with pain. A grunt escaped her and she screwed her face up, everything else too heavy to lift or budge. Voices entered her head and knocked around inside of her skull a few times before they quietened down into nothing. She managed to crack one eye open and caught a glimpse of yellow and blue before she let her body relax into unconsciousness again.

The next time Robin was awake it took her a few tries to finally open her eyes and blink lazily at a steel ceiling. The air kissed her cheeks in cold waves and she shivered, a gasp escaping her as her body flinched, igniting a spark of fresh pain to run through her muscles. Something didn’t feel right and she turned her head to the right just enough to see white bandages and a make shift splint covering her right arm. That wasn’t good. Her gaze flickered a little further to see a green shape propped against one wall, a sling across her body and bandages around her legs.

Something jerked beneath them, elating another grunt from Robin, and a voice called out, “Sorry about that!” before the jerking stopped and there was a pair of grey boots in her vision. Somebody bent down and purple and white streaked hair appeared. “Rest, Robin, we’re almost there.”

There was no arguing with that and she barely nodded her head with a slurred mumble of noise before she closed her eyes.

* * *

Warm, soft, whispers, tired, aches. It took a lot of effort and willpower before Robin pried her eyes open and stared up at a blank ceiling. It told her nothing and she turned to glance down at her arm again. This time the splint was gone and was replaced with a cast that covered almost her entire arm. She blinked, the motion hurting her head and she couldn’t stop the hiss that escaped her.

“Robin?” She looked up to see Malcolm, Yahto and Tawney staring down at her, the latter of her team mates with bandages covering her arms and a bandage on her cheek. “She’s awake!” Tawney shouted, her happiness a stark contrast to the injuries her body told. The next thing Robin knew was that there was a mass of green hair in her face, trying to smother life out of her with a forceful hug. “Don’t you ever do that to us again,” Tawney cried, face buried in Robin’s shoulder. “Ever! I don’t want to see that again. You hear me.”

“Tawney,” Yahto said, gently prying the crying girl from around Robin’s neck, “ease up. We can murder her later for it okay?”

Robin took a deep, shaky breath, her body recoiling at the movement and she winced as she pushed herself up with her good arm. “I’m,” she choked out, her voice hoarse, “sorry.”

Malcolm fell onto her bed next to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest with surprising care. “What she said,” he mumbled, voice precariously balanced between steady and breaking, “don’t-”

Yahto beamed at her over Malcolm’s shoulder and Robin did her best to smile back, snaking her one good arm around Malcolm’s waist. “Don’t make us worry like that again,” Yahto said. “Next time you wanna play the hero, please don’t and make sure to warn us away from that kind of thing.”

“Got it,” she whispered, her eyes stinging. The events that had happened before she blacked out came back to her and she buried her face a little deeper into Malcolm’s shoulder. Maybe she should’ve warned them, stopped them from entering the cave at all costs. But what if Brian had gone in alone, or asked them to all go in together. Did she make the wrong call? The best call? Brian… Her eyes widened and she pulled herself back to stare into Malcolm’s watery gaze. “Brian?”

Malcolm let out a breath and wiped his face, “He’s fine, broken leg and a few bruised ribs but, he’ll up and about in no time.”

Robin’s eyes moved to Tawney and the green haired girl offered her brightest smile despite the tears that still shined on her face, “Scratches mostly, and a sprained wrist.”

Robin let her head fall and rest on Malcolm’s shoulder, a heavy sigh leaving her. “That’s good.”

Malcolm’s arm came back around her shoulder and she felt his chest move with the vibrations of his words, “Iris and Brian have told us to rest for a few more days before we head back to Beacon.”

She nodded her head, her eyes closed, the effort to keep them open far too much. “You guys mind if I sleep? I kinda hurt,” she mumbled.

Malcolm’s chest rumbled with a small chuckle and he kissed her head, “You sleep. We’ll be right here when you wake up.”

* * *

“Team Myrtle’s back!” “They’re back!” “Malcolm! Malcolm!” “What happened?” “Guys?” Those were just a few of the questions that greeted them as they descended from the airship and made their way back to the school. They were a week late in getting back from their mission and Glynda had met them as they were dropped off, ushering the other students away from them. They had all been asked if they wanted Ozpin to get in touch with their parents and they’d all declined, wanting to get back to their room and just spend the next couple of days relaxing.

By the time they made it back to their dorm rooms they were exhausted and ready to do nothing for the rest of the day. Tawney groaned with a victorious stretch before she flopped onto her bed and snuggled underneath the sheets with her arms curled protectively around her pillows. Yahto sat down on his own bed and pulled out a book and his scroll, firing off a few messages before he sat down to read. Malcolm sat down on his own bed and pulled out a couple of books to get some studying done. Robin collapsed onto her own bed and pulled her scroll out, sending her entire family a group message, asking how they were. She hadn’t yet decided if she was going to tell them what had happened. Nobody was even sure what Grimm they had been fighting. The only thing that Robin knew was that Brian provided cover for Tawney to drag Robin out of the cave before Tawney blew the entrance, causing it to collapse from her grenade launcher, and they called Iris for help.

Everybody came back to her with positive messages, Yang getting excited to be attending Beacon next year whilst Ruby rambled on about her recent weapon modifications. Tai sent a picture of himself and Zwei, the puppy insanely happy with his tongue sticking out whilst her Dad had yet to reply to her. She set her scroll down and closed her eyes, letting her body take her into a deep sleep.

* * *

Robin stared at the terminal in the quiet library, scratching her head as to where to start. She was thankful that the library was almost dead during the night, most students choosing sleep over studying at these hours and she yawned, an itch in the back of her mind stopping her from getting any more sleep. She’d had another one of those stupid dreams, only this time it had starred Raven and a woman named Vernal.

“ _You understand what I’m asking of you, don’t you?”_

_Vernal offered Raven a cocky smile and nodded her head once, “I’m honoured you would trust me with this information about Salem, relics and Maidens and what trouble she would bring to the tribe. I understand the dangers.”_

“ _And when if it comes down to it?”_

_The smile dropped from Vernal’s face and she nodded her head again, “I do it for our brothers and sisters out there. For the protection of everybody here.”_

Salem. Relics. Maidens. Those three words had been circling her brain, begging her to come up with some sort of meaning behind those words before she’d shoved the sheets off of herself and made her way to the library. If anybody dared to ask why she was up and not resting with her still broken arm her answer was already sorted with a simple, _Catching up on missed work._ But the more she searched the more red flags and questions she had. The only reference to a Salem of any kind was some sort of witch from centuries ago. The combination of “Relics” and “Salem” brought nothing up and no matter how many combinations or phrases she tried, “Relics” was a lost cause. “Maidens” on the other hand only led her to the story of the four sisters visiting an old man who’d hidden himself away from everyone and everything. What that and an age old witch had in common she had no idea, but it only urged her to look more.

“Raven you,” she growled underneath her breath, rubbing the heel of her hand against her eyes to waken herself up. The bandage from her head was gone, leaving a small mark along her hairline, but it still ached every now and then. She let her good arm fall onto the table and drummed her fingers on the surface, racking her brain for anything to explain Raven’s riddled conversation. “Maidens,” she whispered to herself, “and Salem, who is a witch, old, old witch. And maidens. Maidens...” she frowned as her mind wondered, “… four maidens?… ‘She’s found Fall’...” Robin’s frown deepened. Raven and Qrow had had a conversation about spring and fall as they were real, as if…

“Shouldn’t you be resting?”

Robin jumped at the sound of Professor Ozpin’s voice and she turned tired eyes in his direction to see him taking a step towards the end of her table. “Couldn’t sleep,” she murmured quickly, eyes glancing towards the screen.

He stepped closer to peer at the screen and she looked up at him as he hummed, “And you decided to read up on fairy tales, did you?” She shrugged, no answer coming to mind. He smiled with a small chuckle and Robin felt something odd in the air, “The Four Maidens is one of my favourite fairy tales, it’s been around since I was a young boy.”

Robin stared at him. She was always being told that the teachers had years of experience with everything right? It might be a long shot but… “Have you ever heard one about a witch?”

Ozpin’s smile dropped a fraction and he raised his brows, clearly interesting by the subject. “A witch?”

She hummed, “A lonely witch living in isolation. Secluding herself away from society.”

“And where did you hear such an interesting story?”

Robin shrugged, unable to read the professor’s face. “I overheard somebody talking about it once but beats me where they got it from.”

He hummed again and took the empty seat opposite of her, his hands clasped on the table, “It’s a simple story, one that isn’t heard or told as much any more. A young girl with magical powers had her love taken from her. Unable to live alone she hid herself away from the world, becoming nothing more than a whispered rumour.”

She studied his face for a few seconds, trying to discern the serious expression he wore. That wasn’t a story she’d ever heard and some of the digging she had done didn’t even hint to anything more than just a witch who lived alone in the woods. Magic wasn’t even real… but then why would Raven be talking about the Maidens as if they were real. From everything she had ever heard about the woman, believing in fantasies wasn’t one of them and Robin squirmed in her seat.

“Is something troubling you, Robin?”

His words snapped her out of her mental thoughts and she glanced away with a yawn. Maybe sleep was finally catching up with her and making her delirious. She stood up, her chair scraping a little too loudly in the quiet of the library and she shook her head, “Just trying to work out what _Salem_ has to do with anything.” And just like that his face shifted and she had a glimpse into his thoughts. ‘How did she know a name like that?’ Robin stared down at him and held his gaze as she said, “She’s the witch in the story and she’s still alive isn’t she?”

The mask fell back into place as he stood up, hands behind his back, “Perhaps you should get some rest. Nobody lives forever, Miss Branwen.”

She narrowed her eyes at him before she rolled her eyes and turned around, “Robin. Just call me Robin.” She ducked her head as she left, mind working a thousand miles an hour. He knew something and she wondered who else knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... plot is happening... how does this change things to come?


	29. Bonus Christmas Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is purely a Christmas inspired chapter from Robin's first Christmas after she loses her Mom. I hope you enjoy and the next one will also be Christmas themed.

Christmas Bonus Chapter 1

Six year old Robin played with the teddies that Yang had thrust into her lap. Her attention was divided between the three year old who mumbled to herself, and the decorations that donned the Xiao Long-Rose-Branwen household. Summer and Tai seemed to really be into the Christmas spirit, decorating the house from top to toe so that nothing was saved from the decorations. Her Mom always did decorate the Inn for the holidays, but never to this extent. It was almost too much, almost.

At the moment the smell of home baked cookies permeated the air and Qrow and Tai were arguing about an appropriate movie whilst Summer kept her on Ruby and the cookies. A teddy was thrust into her face and Robin took it with a small smile, smashing it against the teddy that Yang was holding and made explosion noises along with the young girl. “Right girls,” Tai said, attracting their attention, “who’s ready for the first Christmas film?” Yang shot her arms up into the air with a cheery scream and Robin smiled at her enthusiasm. “You girls climb over Qrow and make yourselves comfortable, and I’ll grab Summer.”

Yang waster no time in climbing to her feet and running straight for Qrow, slamming her body into his legs with a happy scream. Qrow chuckled, leaning down to pick up the three year old and dropper her onto the couch, earning another happy scream from the young girl. Robin giggled and climbed to her own feet and onto the couch. Qrow dropped himself between the two girls and Yang crawled into his lap and kneeled on him to wrap her arms around his neck.

Tai came back, a mumbling Ruby on his hip with Summer holding a box of fresh cookies. “Qrow,” Summer started, “you’re only allowed three this time.”

“Sum’!”

“No, the girls first, you’re last.”

Qrow pouted, trying to fold his arms over his chest the best he could with a wriggling three year old reaching out for the cookies. “You guys are mean,” he grumbled, rearranging Yang so that she was sat on his lap. Summer held out the box to Yang, slapping Qrow’s wrist when he tried to sneak one for himself.

“Robin, do you want one?”

“Yes please,” she muttered, taking one of the offered treats. Summer sat down next to Robin with Tai sitting down once the movie had started, stealing a cookie from Summer’s lap.

By the time the movie was over Yang had crawled her way to Summer’s lap and was fast asleep. Ruby was perched against Tai’s shoulder and Robin’s head was knocking against Qrow’s arm as she held it protectively, the box of cookies in his lap as he finished them off himself. She stirred gently and when Robin opened her eyes it was to feel herself moving and her sleepy gaze fixing on Tai with Ruby and Summer with Yang trailing behind him. She turned a corner and she realised she was being carried to her own bedroom by her Dad. As he set her down she yawned and rolled over, smashing her face into her pillow and curling up with it tightly held in her grasp, earning a soft chuckle from Qrow. “Night, Little Bird.”

She hummed as she drifted off, a small kiss sending her off into her dreams.

* * *

“’ismas! ‘ismas!” Yang’s cheering and bouncing on her bed woke Robin up and she lifted her head to be met by a pair of excited purple eyes. “Ismas!” Yang shouted again before she jumped off of the bed and ran through the house, knocking another door open to shout her announcement to the next person.

Robin sat up in her bed and brought her knees up to her chest, a sad smile on her face. It was her first Christmas without her Mom and she wasn’t sure how she felt and she certainly didn’t know what she was supposed to do. Last year she woke her Mom up and they would open their presents by the tree before they had hot cocoa. The Inn doors were open to allow those without a family to join them for a warm dinner that night and there was always plenty of laughter, Robin helping out in the kitchen and trying her best to not make a mess.

This year was vastly different. For starters it had been snowing the past three days and they had built many a snowmen and women. Vacuo maybe had snow once a year that lasted for hours and not days, and that was if they were lucky. It always ended with her Mom tucking her in and spending the night in her bed, shutting the doors to the Inn early to give them a few extra hours alone together with a scroll that was on call to her Dad.

She dropped her gaze to her quilt, arms curled protectively around her knees and she ran her finger in random patterns up and down her covered legs. What was the routine here? Did Yang wake everybody up and drag everybody downstairs? Did they immediately go to presents or did they have breakfast first? Was there any cocoa or big dinner? Was it just a free for all, doing whatever they wanted?

There was a knock on her door and she lifted her head to see her Dad standing there with a soft smile on his face. “Tai’s making his famous chocolate and banana pancakes. Might want to beat Yang to them before she eats them all.”

Robin smiled, “I do like chocolate.”

He nodded his head over his shoulder, “I’ll even carry you if you want.” And how could she pass up an offer like that, her arms immediately shooting up into the air. Qrow chuckled and stepped over to pick her up, settling her onto his hip. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in the crook of his shoulder. When they made it downstairs Yang was already surrounded by ripped paper and empty boxes, some new toys in hand as she held a new dress against herself to see what it looked like. Summer was sat on the floor with Ruby between her legs, trying to encourage the new born to rip at the paper on the parcel. Qrow set Robin down and ruffled her hair as he joined stepped over the mess of paper on the floor and grabbed a couple of parcels from underneath the tree.

Robin immediately sat down next to Summer, fascinated with watching Ruby pull at the paper before giving up and wiping her hands on the box in an attempt to unwrap it. Summer was the one unwrapping the present, giving Ruby the hint to pull at the paper. A blue parcel appeared in Robin’s face and she blinked, reeling her head back to look up at Qrow. She took it gingerly out of his hands as he became distracted by Yang pushing her new dress at him, asking him to help her try it on.

Robin stared at the blue paper in her hands and bit her lip before she felt a nudge from Summer, “It’s not going to bite you.”

Summer’s friendly words and smile encouraged a smile onto Robin’s face and she ripped the paper apart to reveal her own brand new dress. It was black and when she looked closer at the splotches of colour she was able to make out the shape of robins with their red breasts and brown feathers. The smile widened on her face as she traced the birds with her fingers.

Tai came into the room at that point, just after Yang was wearing her new dress and Ruby was playing with her new toy, his arms ladened with plates of pancakes, the smell of banana and chocolate following him in. “Who’s hungry?”

* * *

What had followed the pancakes were movies, games, a snowball fight and playing with their new toys whilst Tai prepared dinner, making Qrow and Summer take turns in helping him out. Robin was busy making faces at Ruby to earn her laughter whilst Yang copied her, keeping them all entertained. It had been eventful and busy and different. Whilst she hadn’t expected much, especially from Tai and Summer, they’d both surprised her with a few gifts from themselves, reminding Robin that she was a part of their family. There had even been a family photo where Tai had shoved herself and Yang into the middle of the picture, Ruby cradled between them.

Dinner was uneventful, everybody quieting down as they ate, the parents making jokes only they understood with Qrow getting punched in the shoulder on more than one occasion. Tai also earned a few punches to his own shoulder and a kick under the table from Summer. After the food Ruby was sleeping and Yang wasn’t too far off. Robin rubbed at her eyes, not ready to give in. The day didn’t feel done and she tried to help Qrow and Tai clear the table away as Summer took Ruby and Yang upstairs, asking Yang if she enjoyed her day and listening to the young blonde babble on.

“Have you had fun?” Tai asked, taking a cup from Robin’s hands.

“Uh huh,” she mumbled, “thank you Uncle Tai!”

He laughed and ruffled her hair, “Anytime, kiddo.”

Robin turned to her Dad who was busy scraping left over scraps into the bin and she tugged on his sleeve. “Yeah?” he said, reaching for the next plate.

“Can I have some cocoa?”

He paused and nodded his head, “Sure. Give me five minutes to help Tai out, okay?”

She nodded her head and quietly said, “Can I have it in my bed?”

“As long as you don’t spill it.”

“I won’t!” she said and she turned, humming to herself as she made her way back to the living room. She grabbed the new teddy that had been bought for her and carried it with her as she made her way up the stairs. “Night Tai!”

“Night, Robin!” followed her up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs Summer was just coming out of Yang’s room, quietly closing the door. She turned and caught Robin’s attention. “Hey,” she said, “have you had a good day?”

Robin nodded and stepped forward to wrap her arms around Summer’s waist, or as high as she could reach. “Thank you, Summer,” she said.

Summer laughed and hugged her back, “You don’t have to thank me, sweetie. As long as you’re happy.”

Robin stepped back and nodded her head again, “I am. Good night.”

“Want me to come tuck you in?”

“No, Dad’s going to do it.”

“Okay, goodnight, sweetie.”

Once she was in her own room she pushed the door to and climbed into bed, a small sigh escaping her. It was definitely different to what she’d been used to, but it was still a good Christmas, something she could see herself looking forward to each year. She shuffled underneath the blankets, cuddling her new teddy to her chest. It was a black bird the shape of a crow, according to Tai who thought it was a funny gift, earning a glare from Qrow. She hummed to herself as she stroked her fingers along the beak of the crow as she waited for her Dad.

There was a knock on her door and she looked up to see him stood up, a fresh cup of hot cocoa in his hand. “Hey, kiddo,” he said, “you good?”

She nodded her head, sitting up in bed so that she could take the offered cup from him. “Can you tell me a story?”

“Sure, which one?”

Robin shrugged and held her cup out to him so that she could shuffle along the bed until there was enough room for Qrow as well. “You pick,” she said, taking her cup back and leaning against his side. She smiled to herself as he started on his own personal story about one of his missions, keeping it suitable for her as she sipped her cocoa. It was the best way to end a new type of Christmas, curled up with hot cocoa as her Dad held her against him, telling her a story to help her drift off to sleep.


	30. Bonus Christmas Chapter 2

_Mistletoe_

Robin watched Tawney pin the piece of mistletoe to the door frame to their dorm room. The boys were busy studying in the library for their last few exams in the coming weeks whilst Robin had taken the time to play on her scroll. Tawney was supposed to be studying, instead she was busy decorating their dorm room. “Have you even told them?”

“Nope. We’re gonna watch them kiss.”

She couldn’t help the quirk to the corner of her lip before she shook her head, focusing back on her scroll and the game she’d distracted herself from. “You know they might not do it, nothing’s going to force them or hurt them if they don’t.”

Tawney turned on the chair she was perched on, a wide grin on her face and her eyes dark, making Robin shrink just from the look. “You want to bet?”

“You have some serious issues.”

“It’s not just us. AMBeR, CRimSoN and JADE have all done it too. Besides, it’s just a little fun.”

Robin shook her head again and paused her game to send both Yahto and Malcolm a quick warning message before she went back to her game. Tawney hummed the start of a Christmas song before she bounced back to her bed that was strewn with books and paper.

Two hours passed before Yahto came through the door first, closing the door behind him with a sigh. “It would have just been useful to stay here and study, everybody’s panicking.”

Tawney narrowed her eyes at him and looked towards the door, “Where’s pretty boy?”

“Got caught by Delilah. She’s trying to convince him to go for a coffee with him.”

“Pfft,” the Faunus said before she threw herself back to her books, cheek pressed into her hand with a scowl. “You were supposed to get back here together.”

The next two weeks were spent with all four of them doing their best to avoid entering the room at the same time. Tawney tried to push some of through the door together and had even resorted to carrying mistletoe around with her before the other three members of her team had deemed that too far. She had promised to put it away and that it was only once they’d all gotten caught under the mistletoe that she would take it down and throw it away.

Almost another week passed and it was three days before they were to break up for the holidays. Robin was on her scroll, talking to Yang and Ruby who were begging her to make a snowman family with them, an igloo, have a snowball fight, make cookies and warm milk. She was too distracted with her two cousins beginning to argue about which flavour cookies was the best flavour that she absently nodded to Yahto and followed behind him into their dorm room.

“Yes!” was screamed at them and Robin winced, the conversation on the end of her scroll going quiet.

“We’ll make both,” Robin said, frowning at Tawney’s giddy face and Malcolm’s shaking head and smirk. “I’ll speak to you two tomorrow.”

“What?” Yahto said, hands up and shoulders scrunched up. “What are you looking…” his shoulders slumped and he looked up. “Really?”

Robin followed his gaze and groaned, screwing her eyes shut before she glared at Tawney. “Do we rea-”

“Yes! Now do it! Kiss!”

“You have problems,” Yahto said, turning to glance at Robin.

She looked back to her team mate and shrugged, “Let’s just get this over with.”

Yahto looked sheepish as he shuffled over to her and bent down. Robin’s confidence faltered and she leaned forward, closing her eyes and met him halfway to gingerly peck him on the lips before she pulled away, a glare quickly back on her face. “You happy?”

Tawney stared at them, wide eyed and her mouth hanging open. “You call _that_ a kiss? _That_?!”

Yahto rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, “It’s stupid and nobody does it any more. Can we take it down already?”

“That is not how you kiss somebody!” With that she pushed herself to her feet and stomped over to Robin, pulling back underneath the mistletoe, “This is how you kiss somebody.” Without wasting another second she jumped up and wrapped her legs around Robin. Instinctively Robin grabbed her legs, cheeks quickly reddening and she opened her mouth to protest whatever was about to happen before Tawney pressed her lips to her own with a firm assault, hands firmly wrapped in Robin’s hair.

For a solid minute Robin was unable to move or say anything as Tawney kept herself pressed against her until the need to breathe was too much. When they pulled apart, Tawney’s tail flicking gently behind her, the green haired girl turned her attention to the two silently stunned boys, _“That_ is how you kiss somebody.” She let herself down and walked back to her bed, throwing herself back down and plucking a book into her lap. “You boys are going to be single forever if you don’t kiss a girl like that.”

Robin was still stood where she was, cheeks ablaze and eyes wide. Did that… What-? After a moment she shook her head and turned to stare at Tawney who was busy smirking to herself, flicking her eyes up from her book to wink at Robin before she looked back down at her book. She grumbled as she padded her way to her own bed, “At least buy me dinner first.”

“How about tomorrow we go get sushi, my treat.”

Robin sat down and grinned, reaching for a book she’d left on her bed, “It’s a date.”

Silence descended on the room for thirty seconds before Yahto, still stood by the door, said, “What the hell was that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second Christmas chapter! Nothing but a little bit of fun. Regular chapters will be back next week.


	31. Bonus Christmas Chapter 3

_Eggnog_

Tai never let Qrow make the eggnog. Never. Ever since that time during Beacon he’d offered to make it and all four members of team STRQ had woken up in the middle of the Emerald forest, Qrow in a skirt, Summer with fake cat ears, Tai with a glittery waistcoat and Raven dressed in one of Summer’s spare dresses, he’d been banned from making eggnog. When they were in a house with three girls, Qrow wasn’t even allowed in the kitchen.

They were winding down for the evening, their day busy and spent enjoying their new presents and the atmosphere that Christmas brought with it. Tai was lazing on one end of the couch, Qrow and Ruby on the other end with their scrolls out and their eyes glued to the screen as they fought each other. Yang and Robin were… Tai did a double at the two grinning girls. Whilst they seemed deep in girly conversation, legs folded underneath them on the floor and a sleeping Zwei curled between them, something seemed off and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Robin stood up, holding her hand out to Yang who beamed up at her as she passed her cup over. “Eggnog anyone?” Robin mumbled and Tai swore there was something off with the way she spoke.

“Yuck,” Ruby muttered, sticking her tongue out.

“Don’t have to ask me twice,” Qrow said, holding his cup out blindly, his gaze fixed on the screen.

Tai waved a hand away and shook his head, “I’m good.” Usually he enjoyed the beverage, but this year he’d filled himself up with far too much food to find room for eggnog and he settled for enjoying the calm that had descended upon the household.

“Hey, hey Robin,” Yang shouted, planting a hand onto the floor to stop herself from falling over. “Robin!”

“What?”

There was a pause before Yang simply said, “Grapes,” before she descended into snickering giggles.

There was a second before laughter filtered in from the kitchen and Robin shouted, “Oranges!”

Both girls filled the silence with their giggles and chuckles, Yang flopping onto her side as she held a hand to her mouth, the other on her stomach. “Ora-oranges,” Yang stuttered between laughs.

“I don’t get it,” Ruby said.

Qrow shrugged as the game announced that he’d won another game, “Leave ‘em to it. Come on kid, I thought you were good at this game.”

“I will kick your butt old man!”

“I’m not old!”

“You so are,” Yang whispered, rolling onto her stomach and propping her head into her hands, her legs kicking in the air above her. “So old.”

Qrow looked away from the screen with a glare, “Watch it, Firecracker. I know how to kick butt.”

“Pfft,” Yang mumbled, her cheeks a rosy red.

Robin came back into the room, three cups balanced between her two hands. She set them on the table and passed one to Qrow and one to Yang before she took one for herself, a proud look on her face, “And I didn’t spill a drop.”

Yang giggled and said, “Spillage,” making Robin descend into a new round of laughter before she sat herself back down on the floor. Tai frowned as he watched the two of them and he narrowed his eyes at Qrow. “Bet’cha ten lien I can kick your butt still.”

“Pfft,” Robin said, “you haven’t kicked my butt in months.”

“Still kicked it.”

“Fine,” Robin said, standing up with a challenging stare, “less go.”

Ruby’s attention was dragged from the screen to stare at her sister and cousin and she beamed, “Oooh, can I fight the winner?”

“Qrow,” Tai started, his voice low, “when did you get into the kitchen?”

The man in question turned innocent red eyes to Tai with raised brows, “What?”

“When did you get into the kitchen?”

Qrow frowned as he took a sip of his eggnog, “What makes you think that I… oh.” His face fell into realisation as he turned to the other two girls in the room drinking eggnog who were currently on their way out of the door, weapons in hand. “Oops.”

“Qrow! You had one rule! One!”

“I’m sorry!”

Tai slapped a hand to his face and pointed to the front door, “Go make sure they don’t kill themselves before I kill you!”

Qrow held his hands up as he stood up and made his way towards the door, his tone changed to debating tone, “I said I was sorry, we’ll move it out of their reach, I won’t add any more to it, I’m sor-”

“Just-” Tai started, exasperated, before there was a thump from outside and Yang’s voice clearly mumbling, “Ouch.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and pointed to the door again, “Just go.” Qrow quickly disappeared as there was the sound of Yang’s weapon going off and another thump, Yang expressing her pain again.

“Umm, Dad?” Ruby started, a curious expression fixed on him.

“Promise me you’ll never drink eggnog.”

Ruby pulled a face and there was another thump followed by Yang’s hiss, “It’s gross.”

“Never change,” Tai said, hugging Ruby to his chest. There was a thump and this time it was Qrow voicing his pain and Tai winced, “Never change, Ruby.”


	32. Chapter 29

_Winter. Spring. Summer. Fall. Four sisters. Four seasons. Four maidens. Maidens. She found Fall. Spring is missing. Raven. Raven. Ozpin will fall. Winter. Spring. Summer. No Fall. Three maidens. Three. Salem. Screams. Screams. Screams._

“-Anwen!” Robin jerked in her seat, head snapping up at the sight of a hand on the desk directly where her head had been a few seconds ago. She looked up to see Oobleck staring down at her, the look of disappointment clear through his glasses. There were a few snickers around the room and she watched as he straightened up and pushed his glasses up his nose. “I realise your team and yourself had a rough mission and are still recovering, in a sense, but now is not the time to be sleeping in class and missing any more vital information that may help you in the future to come. See me after class.” A few more giggles sounded.

“Right, sorry,” Robin mumbled, fixing her gaze onto the desk. The words still echoed in her head and she had to shake it a few times before she could focus back on class properly. It had been two weeks since they’d come back from their mission and Robin was thankful for aura, the cast having come off of her arm already to leave a few bruises and cuts behind.

The class ended and Tawney delivered a light punch to Robin’s good shoulder as she passed her. “Don’t wait for me,” Robin mumbled, slowly packing her things away. Yahto chuckled as he passed, ruffling her hair on the way. Malcolm offered her a tight smile.

“Miss Branwen,” Oobleck announced once they had the room to themselves. “Whilst missions are important for the hands on experience, knowledge in the classroom cannot be overlooked. I’m not sure how many times I need to tell you this, but sleeping in class is not tolerated and this is the third instance this week, alone.” He sighed and Robin rolled her eyes. So what if she’d been having a few nightmares that had kept her up. So what if her mind was constantly awake with questions she didn’t know where to find the answers to. So what if she fell asleep a couple of times. She wasn’t falling behind, she always caught up on the work and assignments, she passed their exams without worry. “Robin,” Oobleck carried on, his tone softer, “we teachers are always available if you feel the need to talk to us. We don’t judge and the well being of all of the students is our main priority. If there is anything you want to talk about, please, do ask us.”

She folded her arms over her chest and stared down at her desk. “Pro- Doctor, what do you know about fairy tales?”

He rose his brows at the odd question, “Fairy tales?”

“They’ve gotta be based on something right? Some event or a person, something factual that then becomes a story.”

“Of course, but those tales can become skewed from the countless years of passing the stories down from one generation to another. It’s only recently that mankind has been recording its history for the future generations to learn from. Anything before that, well, we cannot be certain of.”

“Right,” Robin muttered.

There was silence for a few seconds before Oobleck cleared his throat, “Right. Detention, everyday this week and the next, I want you here. One hour and a new assignment each day. Dismissed.”

She stood up, dragging her bag off the desk behind her before pulling it onto her shoulder. Outside, Malcolm stood against the wall, hands stuffed into his pockets and his head ducked, bobbing to some silent tune. “Hey,” she said, nudging him with her elbow.

“Hey,” he linked his hand with hers and tugged her along the corridor with him, “how bad is it?”

“Detention, every day, one hour and a brand new assignment. This week and next.”

“Ouch, and have you learnt your lesson?”

Robin shrugged and kicked at a small stone, “Probably not.”

He chuckled at that comment as they turned into the main courtyard of the school, “You do know you can talk to us, about anything.”

“Malc,” Robin whined.

“I know you haven’t been sleeping, except for in class-” she lifted her head to meet his gaze and froze, taking a hesitant step back. Just past Malcolm’s shoulders a group of three Beowolves ran by, behind them one of the pillars had been knocked over and shattered and she pinched her eyes shut, shook her head and looked back up to see Malcolm looking worriedly at her. He let out a small breath and stepped closer to her and grabbed her other hand. “You haven’t been sleeping because of things like that. What did you see?”

“Beowolves running through here. Part of the structures were damaged.”

“And now I’m worried.”

Robin rolled her eyes and dropped one of his hands to tug him onwards, “Might not happen.”

“Robin-”

She stopped and let him stop next to her, “The longest that I’ve seen something before it’s happened is two weeks. The Nevermore in the arena never happened so those Beowolves may never happen.”

“The nightmares?”

“I was thrown across a cave, bashed my head against a few rocks, broke my arm and almost fractured my leg. I think nightmares are perfectly normal right now.”

“Could you at least talk to us about them? Everybody’s worried about you, _I’m_ worried about you.”

Robin looked down at her feet and let out a small sigh before she looked up at him, “What do you want me to say? I keep dreaming about that mission, the day my village was destroyed. I’m dreaming about other villagers being over run and destroyed, I’m dreaming about you guys in danger, my cousins, my Dad, I’m even dreaming about my Aunt now and- most of it is nothing more than nightmares. That’s it, crappy nightmares, but just that.”

He gave her a look and lowered his voice as he said, “And that doesn’t make me feel any better. Can you at least think about talking to us some more?”

“What if I write it all down in a journal, everything that happens, every detail and maybe even a location.”

Malcolm’s gaze dropped to a scowl and he dropped her hands, “You’re mocking me aren’t you?” He let out a sigh and started to walk away, “Seriously, Robin?”

She shrugged her shoulders and followed after him, “Look, I’ll promise to wake you up next time and I’ll work on talking it over with you guys.”

He stopped walking and offered a small smile, “As long as you keep that promise.”

“I’ll do my best?” she offered back with a wry grin.

Malcolm let out a small chuckle and grabbed her hand again, “Close enough.”

* * *

_The cracked moon looked down on the small farm village that was blanketed in a thin layer of snow. Nothing moved and the few footprints that were still visible in the snow were slowly being covered by the fresh snowfall. A single person trudged along the outskirts of the village, two shadows behind him._

_A few miles behind him the bushes whispered with silent movements, fingers dragging a path through the snow and inhuman footprints trailing in their wake. Low growls, hissing and bones cracking echoed quietly in the dark air._

Robin frowned in her sleep, twisting her head to one side with a mumble.

_Tired. So tired. Limbs were heavy and walking felt like dragging your feet through wet cement that was quickly drying with each step and making it more difficult. Bones creaked, voices groaned and the heaviness grew. Just need to sit down and rest but not yet. For everyone, just a little further._

Her heart thumped painfully in her chest and she screwed her fingers into the sheets, her feet tangled beneath them. Everything was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. So wrong. “Stop,” she whispered, “don’t.”

_This darkness was different. It was wet, damp, cold, pressuring, invasive… inviting. Somebody could sleep for a century in peace down here without being disturbed. Something stared back from the darkness, waiting, silently. Something splashed in the low streams. Two red dots appeared, staring blindly back before something let out a shrill, piercing scream…_

Robin jerked awake, body covered in sweat and sheets tangled amongst her limbs. It was a painful, chest tingling few seconds before her breathing came back in heavy pants, her hands coming up to push her hair out of her face. It took few two full minutes to push her sheets back and swing her legs over the side of her bed, chest heaving as she gulped lungfuls of air down. A few seconds later she stood shakily to her feet and padded over to Malcolm’s bed, climbing in next to him and wrapping an arm around his waist.

He stirred at the movement and turned, instinctively wrapping an arm around her before he groaned and mumbled, “Another one?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Was it in Vale?”

She shook her head, “It was snowing.”

He rubbed his hand in small circles across her shoulders and kissed her temple, “Get some sleep. I’m not going anywhere.”

Robin nodded her head and curled against his chest with a hum. She wasn’t going to be sleeping anytime soon, the whole scene far too creepy that it was still making her skin crawl. Whatever was going on in her dream, she sincerely hoped that she would never cross the same path.


	33. Chapter 30

Robin jerked awake, the remnants of her nightmare still clinging coldly to her skin. She clutched at her pyjama top, begging her heart to stop hammering already and ran her other hand through her hair, swiping the sweat slicked bangs away from her face and eyes. _Breathe… Steady. In. Out. In. Out. Steady… Steady…_ She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, listening to the mantra in her head until she felt her chest relax. Once she was sure she could breathe without a hitch, she opened her eyes again and stared into the darkness of her bedroom in Patch.

Third year had been over for only two days and the nightmares hadn’t stopped. They’d continued through until the end of the school year and they were still happening. She shoved the sheets off of herself and climbed out of bed, glancing to her scroll to see that it was three in the morning. She scrubbed her hands over her face and stepped into the hallway. Gentle snores and mumbles filled the air and Robin smiled, knowing that at least everybody else was sleeping.

With a yawn she started towards the stairs, being sure to avoid all of the floorboards that squeaked, she didn’t want to wake anybody else up, and made her way downstairs. Maybe there would be something on TV that could dull her mind into a sleep filled oblivion. Hopefully there was some cocoa still in the cupboards, as long as Ruby hadn’t had it all.

There was a faint glow of orange downstairs from the incoming sunrise and she grabbed the remote, turned the TV on and let it fill the air with some quiet noise. Another yawn escaped her as she made her way to the kitchen and she opened the cupboards until she found the half full tub of cocoa in one of the top cupboards. Behind it was one of Qrow’s bottle’s of nearly full whiskey and Robin hated to admit that her eyes lingered on it a moment longer than necessary before she closed the cupboard and made her drink.

Five minutes later and she was sat on the couch, some old school classic playing on the screen and her mug cradled in her hands. She yawned again and sipped at her drink, wanting to finish it before she nodded off.

_Screams permeated the smoke filled air the fires sent up an unpleasant heat across her skin. The yells of various Grimm echoed the screams of those that were falling and a shiver ran down her spine. “Dad?” a little girl shouted and when Robin’s eyes fixed on the source of the voice she was greeted with a five year old clutching at her Dad’s sleeves, her Dad on the floor, crushed by some rubble. Something whipped the air past her ears and when she looked up it was to see a Nevermore circling the air twice before it dived for the ground, straight at her. The red eyes stared her down, hungry, and she was frozen, unable to move or scream or do anything._

Robin shot up and awake and the sound of something smashing made her jump with a gasp. When she looked down at the source her shoulders sagged at the sight of the broken mug by her feet. “Crap,” she whispered. The TV was still on and when she brought up the clock it was only four. With a small groan she carefully stood up, giving the broken mug a wide berth, before she went to the kitchen to grab a dustpan and brush. When she came back into the room she spotted Tai stood at the bottom of the stairs, a tired concerned look on his eyes and she ducked her gaze, “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Are you okay?”

She nodded her head and started to sweep up the broken pieces. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“She says at four in the morning, stood over a broken mug.”

Robin couldn’t help the small smile at the comment and shrugged a shoulder, “Still fine.”

“You’re as bad at lying as Qrow. Come on, Robin, what’s really bothering you so much that you have to break my stuff?”

Robin snapped her eyes up at him and shook her head, “I didn’t mean to.”

Tai grinned at her and took the dustpan and brush from her hands and finished sweeping the parts up. He set them down onto the table and waved at the couch, sitting himself down with a yawn. Robin joined him and glanced at the TV before Tai nudged her arm with his elbow, “What are you really doing up at four in the morning?”

She shrugged, refusing to look at him, “Couldn’t sleep.”

He hummed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her against his side, “Miss your Dad?”

She grinned and untangled herself from him, prodding him in the side with her elbow, “Probably not.”

“So what is it?”

Her smile faltered and she shrugged a shoulder, “Just a bad dream.”

“Is this about your semblance?” When Robin snapped her head up to him with wide eyes he only offered a warm smile, “Your Dad may have spoken to me about it.” She looked away again and he nudged her arm again, “So what was it about?”

She shook her head, “Nothing.”

“Robin-”

“What? I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t even know who any of them were or where the village was. What does it matter?” She turned to face him, eyes focused and clear of any tiredness except for the small bags underneath her eyes.

“It matters cause it’s affecting you. I thought you looked tired when you came back, and don’t think I didn’t notice that small scar here,” he said, prodding her head where she’d bashed it in that cave. “You want to tell me where _that’s_ from?”

She knocked his arm away and put her elbow onto the arm of the couch and propped her chin up, “No.” He let out a sigh and Robin felt the disappointment slap her in the face. After a few silent seconds she dared a look at him and mumbled, “Knocked my head against some rocks.”

He pinched his eyes shut for a moment before he let out a deep breath and shook his head, “Next time, can you let me know when something happens?”

“I’ll think about it.”

He patted her shoulder, “And next time you wake up at four in the morning, wake me up. We can talk or even just sit here and watch TV together.”

She glanced away and mumbled, “I’ll think about it.”

Tai let out another soft sigh and stood up, “I’ll let you have tonight, but tomorrow, and every day after that, you tell me. Promise?”

Robin looked up at his outstretched hand the outstretched pinky finger he held out to her. It brought her back to her first few weeks of being in Patch, of Tai making her promise to tell him if something was wrong. Her frown twisted into a small smile and she linked her finger with his and said, “Promise.”

He grinned down at her and let go, glancing down at the table. “Get to bed, I’ll sor-”

Robin stood up and grabbed the dustpan and brush before he could, “It’s fine. I’ll get this and I’ll be straight up.”

“You sure?”

“I promise,” she mumbled and she turned towards the kitchen, hearing the TV being switched off.

“If I find out you’re lying to me I’ll kick your butt.”

“That’s a promise,” she said with a grin. She tipped the contents of the pan into the bin and put her tools down, Tai’s gentle steps on the stairs making her aware he’d gone back upstairs. She glanced to the counter and spotted the tub of cocoa that was still out. A small sigh escaped her and she grabbed the tub and opened the cupboard. The bottle of whiskey stared down at her and she hesitated. She remembered hearing something about alcohol helping you to fall asleep, right? She pursed her lips and shook her head, shoving the cocoa pot back into place before she closed the cupboard door.

* * *

Qrow hummed as he watched the three girls traipse off to bed. He’d made a point to Oz that he needed to come home to his family for a long spell. He’d been away for far too long and he grinned as Zwei jumped into his lap and settled his head across his knees. It had been a long day with all three of them crowding around him until it was time for bed.

Tai scratched Zwei behind the ears as he settled down next to Qrow and stole the remote from his hands, flicking the TV to something he liked. “I was watching that.”

Tai shrugged, “My house, sue me.”

“How has she been lately?”

Tai glance at Qrow and let out a small breath, “Better. There were those two instances last month but I haven’t seen her up before seven since.” Qrow nodded his head, pulling his flask out from his jacket pocket. As much as he hated having to be away for as long as he was sometimes, he greatly appreciated the fact that Tai kept him informed of everything he could about Robin, including the sleepless nights and the few times she’d woken up shaking and shouting.

He uncapped his flask and tipped it back, letting out a sigh when nothing came out and he lifted Zwei into Tai’s lap as he stood up. “Should I be worried about her?”

He heard Tai following him to the kitchen, Zwei’s paws soft pads on the floor behind him, “I’m worried about her, so yeah, probably.”

Qrow let out a breath and reached for the cupboard where Tai kept his whiskey, “I don’t know what to do. I can’t magic her dreams away, or her semblance. There’s no fix for that, you and I both know that.” He pushed the cocoa to one side and grabbed his bottle, frowning at how light it seemed.

“I know what you mean. She’s kinda stuck with it whether she likes it or not. Have you spoken to Ozpin about it? Maybe he knows something that will help.”

Qrow hummed and set the bottle on the counter, “I’ll make a trip when school starts again. I thought you didn’t drink this.”

Tai scoffed, “I don’t, not after last time.”

He stared at the half empty bottle, “Maybe I’ve been away for too long.”

Tai let out a snort, “Well the girls do like your company and I’m always telling you to spend more time here.”

“Yeah, yeah, sue me. I’m here now aren’t I?” He refilled his flask and put the bottle back, a slight frown still on his face before he closed the cupboard with a shrug. Maybe he really had been away for too long.


	34. Chapter 31

With her feet tucked underneath her, Robin curled herself up on the window seat, scroll in hand as she waited for Tawney’s response to her last message. The girl was already making plans for their time after Beacon, talking about how their a star team couldn’t afford to be split up and that Mistral was a nice place with lots of great places to live. Yahto wasn’t helping in deterring Tawney and Malcolm had stayed quiet. Robin had said they she would need to think about it, the idea of spending all of her time surrounded by her team and best friends certainly was enticing, but she was thinking on it.

There was a knock from her bedroom door and Qrow popped his head in with a wry smile, “I think Yang and Ruby have just about finished packing their bags. Are you ready for your last year?”

Robin shrugged and dropped her scroll onto the seat next to her, “Probably.”

“You going to leave the same way you left Signal?” He closed the door with a smirk and took the seat opposite of her, a small chuckle escaping her lips. “For the record, it’s still the most famous leaving prank to date.” She grinned and let her head rest against the wall behind her, smile faltering for a moment. “You okay?”

She glanced at Qrow and offered him a small shrug, “Just thinking.”

“Care to share?”

Robin flicked her eyes to the sky outside and the clouds that obscured the moon and stars and she shrugged. “I don’t know, just, stuff.” She pursed her lips and furrowed her brows for a moment before she glanced at her Dad again. She shifted in her seat before she opened her mouth, “Have you- Do you-” Robin let out a breath and stopped, staring the raised eyebrow her Dad gave her. She frowned and took a breath before she said, “Have you ever heard the name Salem?”

The way his back straightened up and his shoulders tensed, just a fraction, gave her all of the information she needed. “Where’d you hear it?”

She shrugged, “Couple of dreams. She sounds like bad news.”

He nodded his head once and stared out of the window, “She is, and I hope you never have to deal with her.”

Robin eyed her Dad’s gaze and felt her heart twist a little bit. There was more to it than a simple “bad news”, something that Robin didn’t want to ever meet or view. “Got it,” she muttered, “stay away from her.”

He glanced at her again and offered her a tight smile, “You figured out what your plan is after Beacon?”

She shrugged and grabbed her scroll, there were a few messages waiting from her and she offered him a warm smile, “Tawney wants us all to live together in Mistral.”

“Mistral? You really think you guys are ready for that?”

Robin gently nudged his knee with her foot, “Gonna miss me?”

“Pfft,” he grabbed her foot and started to tickle the sole of her foot, “I think we’ll be glad to see you gone. I finally get your room.”

“I’ll be sure to leave a fish under the bed for you,” she managed to wring out between short giggles.

Qrow chuckled and dropped her foot, “And I’ll be dropping it back off at your place.”

“Deal.”

* * *

Robin grinned as she joined Ruby and Yang outside of Beacon’s main grounds. They had landed less than thirty seconds ago and Ruby was already being overwhelmed by all of the different types of weapons there were. “Easy there, little sister. They’re just weapons.”

“Just weapons?” Ruby started with indignation, “They’re an extension of ourselves! They’re a part of us. Oh they’re so cool.”

Robin shook her head, her scroll buzzing in her pocket. “There’s plenty of time to be swooning over weapons later, Ruby. Plenty of time.” She pulled her scroll out to see a single message from Yahto that simply said, _‘Incoming’._ She had just enough to look up before a blur of green, pink and white leapt at her and wrapped themselves around her. Robin grunted as she stumbled, trying to balance a newly acquired Tawney in her arms who was intent on squeezing the life out of her by her neck. “Tawney,” she wheezed out, “why?”

“Why not?”

Robin finally steadied herself and glared up at her partner, earning a wide, toothy grin for a response. “Can you get down now?”

“Nope,” her attention turned to Yang and Ruby and she loosened her grip on Robin’s neck, keeping on arm hanging around her whilst the other pointed between them, “Are you two her cousins?”

“Yep,” Yang said once she’d shaken her head to get over whatever was going on. Ruby was still staring, confused by what she was seeing. “I’m Yang, and this is my sister Ruby.”

Tawney jumped down and wrapped her arms around Ruby, smothering her against her chest, “Oh you’re so cute.” She reached out and pulled Yang into the same smothering hold, “both so cute! Can we keep ‘em? Can we?”

Robin hung her head and yanked on Tawney’s tail, making the girl yelp and let go in favour of cradling her tail in her hands, “They’re people, not animals. Guys, this is Tawney, my partner. Feel free to just ignore her.”

“Speaking of friends,” Yang said as a group of people appeared behind her, “I’ll catch you guys later.” With one final wave she disappeared with her group of friends and Ruby’s mouth dropped open at being left behind so blatantly.

Tawney stepped next to Ruby and mused her hair with her hand, “Don’t worry, you’ll make your own friends in no time.”

Ruby stuck her tongue out and pulled a face. “What if I don’t like anybody.”

“I didn’t like Robin at first,” she said. Tawney glanced back at Robin with a smirk and teased, “still don’t like her.”

“I don’t like you either,” Robin muttered, flicking Tawney’s ear.

Tawney stepped back, knocking into Ruby and causing her to stumble back and fall into somebody’s luggage. Robin raised a brow as she watched the comedic view, following the luggage to a girl dressed in white with long white hair whose face immediately turned sour. “What are you doing? Do you have any idea what kind of damage you could have done?”

“S-Sorry,” Ruby stuttered, taking Tawney’s offered hand.

Robin rolled her eyes and held her hands up, “We were just screwing around, we’re sorry we fell onto your stuff.”

The stranger got up into Robin’s face, a snatched suitcase from the luggage cart in her hands and open, a vial of something in her hand. “Do you have any idea what this is? It’s _Dust_ , mined and purified from the Schnee quarry!”

Robin narrowed her eyes at the new girl and snatched the vial of dust from her hands, “Stop shoving it in my face.”

“Excuse me, do you have any idea who I am?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Robin tossed the vial to one side, smirking as she watched the girls face twist into one of horror. “Leave us alone,” she finished just as the vial hit the floor and exploded in a smoke cloud of red fire. Robin held her hands up with a wide smirk and shrugged her shoulders, “Oops.”

As she opened her mouth to reply Tawney pushed Robin to one side and folded her arms over her chest, “Schnee right? Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company?”

‘Schnee’ scoffed and held her hands up, taking a step back, “Don’t _you_ talk to me.”

Tawney stepped closer with a smirk, tail whipping happily behind her, “Aww why not? Scared I can’t be whipped into obedience like the rest of the Faunus your family use for slaves?”

“How- How dare you!” she muttered, stomping her foot before she turned and stormed away.

Robin raised a brow at the brief interaction and turned her attention to Tawney, “Who was that?”

Tawney sighed and propped her chin on her hand, her other arm folded across her chest, “Weiss Schnee, daughter and heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. Known for using Faunus as slave labour for their mines. What the hell is she doing _here_?”

Robin glanced at Ruby and shrugged her shoulders, “Don’t know, don’t care?”

“Erm,” Ruby started, “Robin?”

“Hmm?”

“Where do I go? Do we have dorm rooms?”

Robin grinned and ruffled Ruby’s hair. “You’ll get your room after you get your team.”

“Team?” Ruby whined.

Robin chuckled and turned away to link arms with Tawney, “All of the first years go to the main hall on the first night. Follow the main path, hang a left, right, through the doors and you’re there. Have fun!”


	35. Chapter 32

Robin stared at the list of jobs with her arms folded over her chest. They had been back for three days before the fourth years had been tasked with choosing a mission. Tawney was bouncing up and down just a few feet away from her, her eyes fixed on another list whilst Malcolm and Yahto looked at a third. Nothing jumped out at her and she hung her head, glancing at her other team mates to see if they had found anything interesting. Robin had managed to catch up with her cousins yesterday, both of which had ended up on the same team, along with Weiss Schnee. She’d snorted at that information and wished them luck before she’d gone back to her own class.

“Robin!” She shook her head and stared at Malcolm who was waving her over. She stretched her arms above her head and linked her fingers behind her head as she came to a stop behind them to look at what Yahto had tapped on the menu. _The village of Hagata in Anima has recently suffered a devastating_ _Bandit_ _attack, forcing them to relocate to Oguri._ _Two_ _week’s travel through Tomaru valley is needed and with their numbers already low they ask for help and assistance to watch their backs and guide them on their path. With_ _their fear and worry at its peak, there is the threat of_ _Grimm and bandits_ _still lurking within the area makes this a more perilous trip._ _The top priority is ensuring the safe escort of these refugees to their new home._

“I’m down for it,” she mumbled.

Tawney appeared and stuck her head between Robin and Malcolm to get a good look at the board, “Bandits and Grimm?” She grinned and tightened her grip around their necks, “This is going to be fun.”

“You know,” Malcolm mumbled, tugging gently on her ear to make her release him, “they’ve lost their homes, their livelihoods. This isn’t exactly fun for them.”

Tawney puffed her cheeks out and looked away with a small whisper, “That isn’t what I meant.”

Yahto tugged Tawney against him and ruffled her hair a little harsher than was necessary, “Don’t worry. Your smile will brighten their day. Plus it’s a whole two weeks away. Two. Weeks. In Anima. Think of the views.”

Robin shook her head with a small smile and noted that they weren’t due to leave until that night, permission already given for them to prepare themselves for the mission. She wasn’t exactly sure what else they could do prepare themselves for tonight and she pulled out her scroll, smiling at the small series of messages Ruby and Yang had sent her about their first few days at Beacon. There was a small nudge to her arm and she glanced up to see Malcolm smiling warmly at her, “Can we-?”

Robin stuffed her scroll away and nodded with her own smile. They hadn’t seen each other besides video calls through school break and she offered Tawney and Yahto a wave as she started to walk away with him, “Catch you guys later.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Tawney called after them.

Malcolm groaned, his face warming at the inappropriate tone as he walked by her side. Robin chuckled and shook her head, “You should be used to her by now.”

“I don’t think anybody can get used to her.”

“Where are we going?”

The change of topic wiped the faint blush from his cheeks and his smile returned, “Vale.”

* * *

“My Mom wants to meet you.”

Robin stared, wide eyed, at Malcolm for several seconds before she moved, finally grabbing her cup and taking a long sip. “You told her?”

He gave her a look and rolled his eyes, “We’ve been together for a year and a half.”

“That long?”

He raised one brow, “You didn’t tell them did you?”

Robin took another long sip and shrugged her shoulders, “It, it never came up?”

Malcolm let out a breath and propped his head in his hand, “Really?”

She shrugged again and leaned back in her seat. “It didn’t. My Dad was away for half of the holidays.”

“And the other half?”

With a sigh she threw her arms onto the table and rested her chin on top of her folded arms, “You know, it’s not the end of the world.”

He matched her sigh and reached over to prod her cheek, “I know, but if we really are going to move into a place, as a team, I think your Dad needs to know before that happens. There’s a difference between moving in with your team, and moving in with your boyfriend.”

She shrugged, swatting his hand away, “Not sure how he’d react to that.”

“I’m willing to take that risk,” he mumbled with a grin.

Robin snorted and grabbed her drink, finishing it off with a warm smile. “Don’t blame me if he tries to kick your ass.”

Malcolm reached over and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together, “Are you trying to scare me now?”

She squeezed his fingers gently and mumbled, “Just warning you.”

He gave her hand a small squeeze and let go to stretch his arms above his head. “We’ve got a few more hours to kill before we have to leave. What do you say we grab some food to take back to the others, have the nicest meal we’re going to have for two weeks.”

“As long as it’s sushi.”

* * *

There was a deafening silence that fell over all four members of team MYRTle as they took in the sight of the village that had been destroyed by the bandits. There wasn’t much left, just a few hollow shells of homes that used to be filled with laughter and smiles, rubble taking up primary residence within the area. The air was tainted and there was a heavy, sombre tone throughout the small crowd. It was night and the small number of people were surrounded by torches and make shift campfires and tents, some people taking shelter under collapsed roofs and walls.

The team were guided by the two Huntsmen they were with into loading up two carts with what was left, including possessions, food and supplies, and using a map to lay out their path, making notes of any known Grimm nests or sightings.

The first Huntsman, Ash, would take the lead, Malcolm and Yahto behind him with Tawney and Robin bringing up the rear with the second Huntsman, Tanner, trailing behind them. That was the plan of action and once everybody had agreed to it they were given permission to rest for the night with a promise that they would be up at first light.

When the light crested the horizon they were able to see the full extent of the damage that had happened, the chaos that swung its ugly head around them and it was awful. Robin stared, eyes stuck on the carnage that was in full view for them and the few people that were left to pick up the pieces of their broken village. It echoed a scene she’d half witnessed in her own village and no matter which way she turned her head to look away, she was reminded of it all with a new angle. Her hand instinctively reached for the front pocket on her jeans, the small lump a new familiar weight, somehow grounding her. A hand grabbed her shoulder and she turned, looking up to see Yahto offering her a meek smile, “Hey, you okay?”

“M’fine,” she mumbled, trying to match his smile before she grabbed her weapon and extended it to its full version. She’d upgraded it over the holidays so that a sickle extended from each end of her staff. “Let’s get going.”

Getting everybody moving in the first place proved to be more difficult then anybody thought. It took an hour get the logistics arranged, the injured carried between those who were still stable and the people to finally leave the remnants of their village. Tawney nudged her arm with her elbow as they started walking behind the last person and Robin glanced over with a raised brow. “Have you had any dreams lately?”

She shook her head and couldn’t help the last glance she threw over her shoulder towards the village that was now a speck in the distance, her gaze following the line of the forest on their right. “Nothing,” which wasn’t a lie. She’d had almost no dreams for close on two months now, and it was bliss. There hadn’t even been anything out of the ordinary when she was awake.

Tawney hummed, morning star thrown over one shoulder as she walked in step with Robin. “Hopefully that means nothing but good news.”

* * *

On the eighth night they were settled down for the night, a few small fires burning in the small alcoves the valley presented to them. Robin grabbed a spare blanket and threw it over a Mother and her son, both shivering lightly in the chilly air. She looked over at the makeshift stretcher on the other side of the fire and she caught the patient, a middle aged man with half of his face covered by gauze. He stared at her, eyes wide and focused on her and only her. “Are- are you okay?” Robin mumbled, inching over to him. His gaze didn’t waver, move or falter and she took a hesitant step back, her skin beginning to crawl. “Do you, want… need anything?” Again, he just stared at her and Robin swallowed nervously. With another small step back Robin turned away and shook her head, goosebumps flaring across her skin.

She shivered and reached for her pocket, pausing to see if anybody else was awake and watching. There were a few people still awake, warming up by the fires and waiting for sleep to take them. Robin reached into her pocket and pulled out the small bottle. A scream interrupted her and she snapped her head in the direction of it, eyes quickly finding the reason for the scream. She put the bottle back into her pocket and unsheathed her staff into its full form.

“Lancers!” Ash shouted and Robin felt her heart race. A swarm of Lancers emerged from the trees, joining the handful that were hovering high above them. Around thirty to forty of them hung in the air above them, sizing them up and Robin felt the air shift in the makeshift camp. The silent stand off was interrupted by the sound of a child crying and that was the only invitation the Lancers needed to dive.


	36. Chapter 33

Robin swung her staff, sickle side out, down in the direction of her fall, twisting it at the last moment to cleave straight through one Lancer before she swung it to latch onto another. She swung her legs with the momentum to bring the sickle slicing through and underneath the Lancer with her movement and she retracted it so that she could free fall to the next one. She landed and extended the sickle only to lodge it into the Lancer’s back and she held on, trying to use the height to her advantage to see how everybody else was doing.

Ash was shooting down every Lancer he could with his dual wielding pistols, occasionally extending them into ice duct filled swords that froze any close quarter Lancer. Malcolm had his back to a group of the refugees as he shot arrow after arrow, switching them out for dust filled versions, igniting the sky in a blurry of red, white, yellow, grey, green and purple. Tanner’s chainsaw had been swapped to it’s rotary cannon form, dealing a hefty chunk of damage to the Lancer’s that were still airborne. Tawney and Yahto were busy making sure that the people were protected from whatever Lancer’s fancied their luck in close quarters.

The Lancer she was on shook violently before it turned upside down and Robin’s legs dangled underneath her as she stared down at the ground. There were three Lancer’s between her and the ground and she pressed a button, splitting her weapon in half, extended the sickle on the second half and swung it up, digging the tip into the back of the Lancer’s neck. She swung her feet up, gripped both handles tightly and pushed both feet against the Lancer’s body, dislodging her weapons and giving her a push to the floor. The first Lancer came up and she simply let her feet fall into the back of it before she pushed herself off of it, just in time as one of Malcolm’s arrows blew it’s face off. The next Lancer was thrown out of her way by Tanner’s rotary cannon and Robin aimed for the last Lancer, glancing to her left and right to make sure nothing was coming at her from the sides.

Something in the treeline caught her attention and she narrowed her eyes at the small glint. A set of wings appeared within her peripheral vision and she turned just in time to stretch one arm out, slam against the lowest Lancer and let her arm slip so that she could land on the floor safely. When she looked back over to where she had seen the glint and she could swear there was something there.

“Robin!”

She turned round to see Malcolm before he tackled her to the floor as a Lancer tried to strike the spot she’d just been standing at. “Thanks,” she mumbled as he stood up, pulling her with him. The sky was considerably less full of Lancer’s now but Robin’s attention was still attracted to the tree line. Another glint caught her gaze and she furrowed her brows.

“What’s wrong?”

“Not sure,” she murmured before she looked around to the rest of the camp. There was a small handful of Lancer’s left and she put her staff back into its full form, her gaze drifting to the refugees that were still cowering. Ash, Tanner and Yahto finished off the last few Lancer’s and she contracted it back into its baton form before storing it away.

By the time the last few gun shots had died down into nothing, Robin was picking up overturned carts, cases and boxes and checking on some of the worried people. Tanner’s voice called out, “Everyone good? Anybody injured?”

“We’re good over here!” Yahto called out from the opposite end of their makeshift camp.

“Alright!” Ash yelled out, “Tanner, Yahto, stay here and check on everyone. Everyone else, split up and check the perimeter for any more Grimm. I want you to check in if there’s anything else.”

Robin couldn’t help the glance she threw to the treeline and she narrowed her eyes before she started off in that direction. As she passed through the camp she checked over everyone she passed, making sure that they were fine before she started to scale the small incline that led to the trees. Once she was on flat-ish ground again she pulled her staff out and extended it into its full staff form, sickles not unleashed. She felt her skin crawl as if she was being watched and she narrowed her eyes. Something was definitely off.

Carefully she stepped further into the trees, the light getting thinner and the shrubbery thicker. The sounds of the camp disappeared and she couldn’t help the cursory glance she threw to the top branches. Something came hurtling at her and she side stepped to the right, glancing down to see an arrow embedded in the floor and when she looked back up somebody had thrown themselves at her.

Thankful for her semblance she jumped back and twisted her staff round. Two swords were thrust up and she put her staff up, blocking the incoming attack. The guy that wielded the swords pushed on them, making her step back before he pulled one back and swiped at her head. Robin leaned her head back, pulling her staff back with her. He took the opportunity to follow her and jump at her, rolling underneath her swing and finishing behind her to try to swipe her legs out from underneath her.

She jumped, a small gasp leaving her lips as she realised she couldn’t avoid his next attack, a kick connecting with her stomach and sending her rolling back. When she opened her eyes she had enough time to thrust her staff up as his swords landed on either side of her head. Robin ground her teeth together and glared at the guy, finally getting a good luck at him. He didn’t look like a Hunter, Policeman or authority figure of any kind. “Who are you?” she ground out and for a moment there seemed to be a look of hesitation in his green eyes.

“Raven?” he mumbled.

Robin’s eyes widened and she made the connection, “Bandit.” He jumped off of her and stepped back. Robin followed suit, holding her staff up, ready for another fight. “You attacked the village, didn’t you?” His lips curled, whatever shock he was in gone, and Robin narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

“Why not?”

She scoffed at his chuckle and shook her head, “Where’s the rest of you guys? Destroying their village not good enough for you? You have to kick ‘em when they’re down?”

He grinned wider at her and crouched down, swords up, “I don’t have to explain ourselves to you.”

There was a rustle behind her and Robin glanced over her shoulder to see an arrow fly out of the bushes, she stepped to the side and felt her scroll buzz, Ash’s voice yelling through the open comms, “Bandits! Regroup on Tanner!” Sword guy yelled and Robin lifted her staff as he swung one sword towards her head the and the other to her chest, blocking both attacks at the same time. There were heavy footsteps behind her and Robin pushed on her staff, turning it and making sword guy twist his arms as well before she rolled over his back and kicked him into whoever had decided to run at her back. They connected before the sound of gunfire erupted from all directions and after a few seconds the ground by her feet was thrown up by bullets and she jumped back, turning her staff to block the bullets as she backed up towards the treeline again. “Malcolm? Robin? Where are you?”

“-ugh, so-sorry,” Malcolm’s voice filtered through next, “I’m dealing with two of them! They’ve got me pinned down for now.”

“Robin?”

She didn’t have time to grab her scroll as she heard the footsteps behind her. Suddenly she was grappled and rushed to the ground, a pair of hands pinning her shoulders into place with a knee in the centre of her back. “Got you,” somebody mumbled into her ear.

“I had her!”

Somebody scoffed and when she looked up it was to see a woman with blonde hair holding a crossbow, “Sure didn’t look like it.”

Somebody else kicked her staff across the small clearing, “Never going to get anywhere with a stick, girlie.” The guy was toting a rifle over one of his shoulders, a blade sticking out of the end of it and swinging down to point into her face. “What do you say we match your face?” he prodded the blade into her good cheek and she growled at him as her scroll buzzed again, Ash’s voice asking for her still.

Robin wriggled, the grip on her too strong and she looked back up to the people that surrounded her, “Where’s Raven? She send you guys in to do her dirty work for her?”

“Don’t speak about her like that!” the woman said, stomping down on one of Robin’s shoulders.

“Watch it,” the guy on top of her said and she felt him shift just enough that she could wriggle, his knee slipping down her side painfully slow. She pushed her feet on the floor, forcing her and her captor to roll and she shook off his grip with a foot to the side of his knee and jumped to her feet, hands up and eyes glaring at the people who held their weapons up at her.

Robin smirked and dropped one hand to push the loose strands of hair out of her face, smirk widening as she straightened up slightly. “Give me ten seconds and we’ll go for a round two?” She was met with four confused expressions and she stuck her hand into her pocket to pull out the small bottle she kept there, upcapped it and downed the contents in three long swigs, wincing as it made its way down her throat. She tossed the empty bottle over her shoulder, shook her head and looked at the four people again. “Let’s go.”

Rifle guy hoisted his gun and pulled the trigger. Robin rolled to the side and ducked to avoid an arrow. Sword guy started running at her and Robin stopped, watching as he jumped the final distance to try to bring his swords down on top of her. She stepped back, hands up and side stepped, pushing his arms to one side. An arrow came flying past and she ducked under it, leaping forward into a roll to grab her staff and swung it up towards the rifle guy, knocking his fresh burst of bullets to one side. She stepped forward, elbow connecting with his face and drew her knee up to double him over. She heard a grunt behind her, flicked a glance over her shoulder and pressed a button, dismantling her staff into two pieces. It was the guy who had pinned her to the floor and she activated the sickles on each half. She wrapped over the rifle on the guy in front of her and turned to catch the other in the other guys throat, pulling back on both of them to make them crash together, turned and swiped the guy who’d pinned her to the floor, sending him sprawling. As she continued to turn she caught rifle guy in the chin with one of her sickles and knocked him back.

Sword guy was back on her and another arrow flew past her. She brought both sickles up, matching his swords and twisted to push them away from her. When she had a spare second she brought her knee up, connecting with his groin and she turned as he fell to the side, clutching himself, to glare at cross bow woman.

“Enough!”

Robin froze and turned to the source of the voice, a head of black hair accompanied by a Grimm mask. She narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on her sickles. “Raven.”

The woman let a breath out and unsheathed her sword, swinging it once next to her to open some sort of… portal? Thing? “Let’s go.”

The four people picked themselves and their weapons up and trudged towards the red glowing disc, walking through it and disappearing to nowhere. Raven hung back and Robin glared, “You’ve done enough to these people. Leave them alone.”

Raven turned to face Robin and took a step in her direction, putting her sword back so that she could remove the mask and reveal her face. It was almost like looking in a mirror and Robin cursed her Dad for being a twin. Raven hummed with a tight smile, “You’ve grown.”

“Don’t pretend to care.”

“You’re definitely Qrow’s.”

Robin scoffed and shook her head, “If you wanted something, then say it. Otherwise get lost and I hope to _never_ see you again.”

The portal behind Raven closed but the older woman paid it no mind, settling her mask on her hip with one arm and held her other hand up as she said, “You’re a Branwen, with an interesting semblance.” Robin opened her mouth to say something, a deep frown furrowed in her brows, but Raven beat her to it, “Anybody with half a brain who watches you fight can see it. Which leads me onto asking if Ozpin has filled your head with the same lies he’s filled my brother?”

Now Robin was even more confused. She did have a meeting with Ozpin once they returned to Beacon, but Raven couldn’t possibly know what it was about. And what had Ozpin told her Dad. “Enlighten me.”

Raven studied her face for a moment and Robin glared back at her. “He’ll tell you that you’re doing the world a favour, that you’re one of the few he trusts. He’ll manipulate you into doing what he wants but won’t tell you everything.” She lifted her mask back up and placed it back onto her face. She turned, unsheathing her sword again to open a second portal, “ _She_ can’t be defeated.”

“Robin!” Malcolm’s voice was shouting at her and Robin stared at Raven’s back.

“Does this have to do with Spring?” Raven’s silence was enough for Robin and she narrowed her eyes at Raven, “Is that why you-” Her throat closed up and she willed the tears away, “who is she?”

Raven hesitated for a second and Robin heard Malcolm burst through the bushes behind her. “What the-” and Raven left, portal closing after her. “What was that? Who was that? Are you okay? Did you hear-”

“Raven, I’m fine. I heard but didn’t have time to respond.”

Malcolm clapped her shoulder and bent over to catch his breath before he stiffened and she felt him straighten up, “Wait. Raven _Branwen_?”

“Sadly,” Robin mumbled as she put her weapon away.

“What the hell was she doing here?”

Robin’s gaze was still fixed on the spot that Raven had last been and she shrugged a shoulder, “I’ll tell you later. Let’s finish the mission.”

* * *

The rest of the mission had gone off without a hitch and Robin had painfully filled her team in on the small piece of information that was Raven Branwen leading the Branwen tribe of Bandits. Tawney had burst out asking why she hadn’t said anything before and Robin had shrugged. She hadn’t even been certain what Raven had run off to do until that Bandit called her Raven tonight, which meant there was only one reason for him to call her that.

Yahto had shrugged his shoulder, telling her not to convert and Malcolm and shook his head, asking why her family couldn’t just be simple. Robin had smiled at that and ruffled his hair as she made her way to Ozpin’s office, wondering why he had called her there.

The elevator ride up was quiet and she pulled her scroll out, flicking through her contacts until she found her Dad’s name and she hovered over it. She had so many questions, her mind running a mile a minute as she tried to make sense out of the jumbled pieces she knew.

There was a ding and the doors slid open to reveal Glynda talking in a hushed tone to Ozpin, who say behind his desk. Robin put her scroll away and almost jumped when Ozpin said, “Miss Branwen, Robin, thank you for coming.”

She thumbed a hand over her shoulder, feeling awkward and raised her brows, “I can come back later if you two were in the middle of something.”

“That’s quite alright,” Ozpin said. “We were finished for the day anyway. We can carry this on tomorrow Glynda.”

The other woman rolled her eyes and strolled past Robin, heels clicking into the floor. “I hope you’re prepared for the performance review in tomorrow’s class.”

“Probably not,” Robin muttered.

The doors closed behind Glynda, who had her arms folded over her chest, and suddenly she was alone with Ozpin. “Please, take a seat. We have much to discuss.”


	37. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Robin sat, arms folded and back straight as she studied Ozpin’s face. “He told you.”

“Qrow had his concerns and asked that I keep an eye on you.”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes or tsk but she glanced over his shoulder to stare out of the window behind him. It was still bright outside, her team having gotten back to Beacon just after noon and she was still expected to meet Yang and Ruby for some fun and games later on. “What does my semblance have to do with anything?”

He hummed and stood up, grabbing his cane as he moved to stand in front of the window. “There are many things out there that people are still unaware of. Tales lost and stories buried. Some are beautiful, others dangerous and some are cruel.” He let out a breath that was close to a sigh and turned to face her. “I’ve been around a lot longer than I’d have liked, seen things I wish I could unsee and made more mistakes than anybody else. Tell me, did your semblance have anything to do with why you were looking at fairy tales and Salem that day in the library?”

Robin raised a brow. That was more direct than she’d expected and Raven’s words came back to her. She hesitated before she narrowed her eyes a fraction and said, “Perhaps. Why lie about Salem?”

Ozpin’s face was unreadable as he said, “What did I lie about?”

“Living forever.”

The ticking of the clock tower filled the silence and Ozpin finally moved, walking past Robin and towards the elevator. “Come with me,” he said over his shoulder. After a few moments Robin stood and followed him, curious to exactly was going to happen. Once the elevator arrived he held a hand out and she entered first, watching as Ozpin pressed a button. He started speaking once they started to move, “I’m old, Robin. I’ve been around for centuries, long before Beacon or Vale existed. I come from a time when magic was plentiful and commonplace. It was everywhere and everybody could use it. Then Salem came and it was taken away from us.”

She stared at his back, lips parted. Magic? How old was Ozpin? How was that possible? “I thought people couldn’t live forever.”

Ozpin glanced over his shoulder at Robin, “It’s not by choice and it’s more akin to a curse.” The elevator dinged and Robin’s brows furrowed deeper. “You remember the tale of the four Maidens?”

“Uh huh,” she mumbled, following him into a long, what looked like grand hall of some kind. She couldn’t help but to eye the roomy space she was in, their footsteps too loud.

“Would you believe me if I told you that it was true?”

Something clicked in Robin’s brain, Raven’s conversations, and she shrugged a shoulder, “Surprisingly, yes.”

“They were once widely known and regarded by the public, until the wrong people started to hunt them down, wishing to inherit their powers for themselves. A group was set up to ensure their secrecy and protection, letting their names and stories fade into fairy tales, myths and legends.”

One thing she noticed about the place they were in was that it was ridiculously long. “Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall,” she mumbled. A thought crossed her mind and she stopped walking, waiting until Ozpin stopped and turned to face her and she narrowed her eyes at him, “If these Maidens were as powerful as the legends say they are, then how does somebody bring them down?”

“They do possess great magical power that doesn’t require the help of dust crystals or semblances, but if well trained with the right information and expectations, with the right partners, somebody would be able to bring harm to them.”

“Like Fall.”

Silence. They stared at one another for almost three minutes before Ozpin turned and started walking again. Finally his voice echoed, “If you know about Fall, then I don’t need to explain to you about Spring either.”

Robin glared at his back and started walking again, “She left. Why? Did you promise her something that wasn’t true? Was she too afraid for her life to trust you?”

“The Maidens do not live forever and the powers pass on, either to a close loved one or a complete stranger. Spring happened to be a stranger, new to the world of Huntsmen and Huntresses, Academies and Grimm, not used to being put on the front lines. It overwhelmed her and she ran away from it all.”

She let out a breath and noticed that Ozpin had stopped walking. Her eyes widened as he stepped to the side to let her see what had been hidden beneath the school. A girl was locked in a life support chamber, half of her face scarred in an unusual pattern and a shiver ran down her spine. “Fall,” she whispered.

“For the first time, somebody, with Salem’s help, was able to steal part of her powers. Our fear is that her assailant will look for Fall to finish her off and gain the rest of her powers.”

She finally glanced up at him to see him staring at her, studying her face carefully. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Without any word from myself or Qrow, you’ve managed to learn more about the evils of this world than most people learn in their entire lives. Spring’s location may be unknown, but perhaps you could help point us in the right direction.” Silence was a common companion today and Robin stared at him for a moment before she looked back to the Fall maiden, her face softening from its glare. She stepped up to the compartment and studied her face for a moment before she looked away and glanced at Ozpin. “The assailant and their accomplices are out there, getting ready to make their next move. We don’t know when that will be, only that we’re running out of time. With each passing day, they’re getting closer to their goals of bringing harm to everybody and resetting the world. Your father is one of the few I trust to help protect our world and everybody in it.”

“So you’re the reason my Dad’s been going away on so many top secret missions.”

He stared back at her, his face a blank mask as he said, “I can’t order him to go.”

Robin scoffed and shook her head, turning back to face the Fall maiden. The scowl couldn’t be removed this time and she ducked her head. “What do you want from me?”

“Honesty. If you know anything about Spring then I ask that you tell us, help us to find her before Salem gets to her and harms her too.”

“One question,” she mumbled, looking back up to the Maiden behind the glass, “can Salem be killed?”

There was a brief hesitance before Ozpin said, “She can be stopped.”

“Can. She. Be. Killed?”

“Yes.”

She ground her teeth together and stuffed her hands into her pockets, refusing to look at him. Raven had told her that the answer should be a resolute “No.” So who had been lying to her? She closed her eyes and turned, shoulders slumped and her hand wrapped around the small bottle that she had kept topped up in her pocket. She could feel Ozpin’s eyes boring into her back as she walked back to the elevator, “If you really want to know where Spring is, ask Raven. She seems to know all about her.”

* * *

Robin stepped out of the elevator, frown furrowed deeply on her face. She stopped and glanced back over her shoulder as the doors closed behind her. So her Dad was in on Ozpin’s little fanatics. Raven had known about them and undoubtedly probably left due to them, which doesn’t excuse her but certainly explains _something_ about the woman. Surely it wasn’t just the Branwen’s that knew? Did Summer know about this? Was her mission-

“Robin!”

“Huh?” She turned just in time as a blur of red rose petals invaded her vision and she was tackled to the floor. “Ow!”

“That’s cheating!” Yang’s voice said.

Robin finally looked up to see Yang peering over Ruby’s excited shoulder and she grinned up at both of them, pushing Ozpin and everything else out of her mind. “You guys just couldn’t wait five minutes, could you?”

“We’ve been waiting forever for you!” Ruby shouted, finally getting up and off of Robin, holding a hand out to help pull her up.

Robin chuckled and dusted herself off, “Sorry about that.”

“Are you in trouble?” Yang teased. “Again?”

Robin’s smile faded and she stared at Yang, “Have you been speaking to Tawney?”

“I might have been. Sleeping in class, detention almost every other day, screwing around in class?”

Robin shrugged, “She’s a bad influence.” She wrapped an arm around Ruby’s shoulders and turned her around, “Come on, give me a proper introduction to your team.”

“Only as long as you bring yours along,” Ruby chimed, bouncing on her feet. “It will be a great way for us all to meet, get along and have fun. Although Blake’s, quiet and Weiss is...”

“She’s Weiss,” Yang said.

Robin chuckled. “Looking forward to it. What room is yours again and I’ll ask them to meet us there.”

* * *

“We’re back!” Ruby announced as she threw to door open to team RWBY’s dorm.

“And we brought snacks and friends!” Yang said.

Blake looked up from her book whilst Weiss glanced at them from the desk before she stood up, a curious frown on her face, “Malcolm?”

He turned to her and raised his brows, “Weiss. I didn’t know you were attending Beacon.”

Ruby peered between the two whilst Yahto and Tawney looked over Malcolm’s shoulder to stare curiously at Weiss before they looked back at Malcolm, all three of them uttering, “You know each other?”

Weiss folded her arms with a small smile, “The Adham and Schnee families have been partners for years. We practically grew up together, and” her tone changed to one of displeasure, “our parents had arranged for us to be married when we graduated school.”

“Married?!”

Robin chewed on a liquorice stick, dropping an armful of snacks onto one of the beds. She pulled her scroll out and sat down on an empty bed, opening her Dad’s contact to send him a message: _We need to talk. You told Ozpin about my semblance._

“That’s a thing?” Yang said.

“It’s fairly common in Atlas,” Weiss said.

Malcolm shrugged his shoulders, “She’s right, it’s common practice that a lot of marriages are pre-arranged by the time your fifteen.”

“But what about-” Tawney said, turning to stare at Robin.

Robin waited, glaring at her scroll to see if her Dad would respond and she furrowed her brows, her skin itching. She glanced up and froze, six pairs of eyes staring at her. “What?”

Yahto gestured between Weiss and Malcolm, “Did you know about this?”

“About what?”

“They’re going to get married!” Yahto said.

Robin’s eyes widened as she stared up at Malcolm. Her scroll buzzed but she ignored it as he held his hands up and said, “We were supposed to be.”

“But the Adham’s called it off last year,” Weiss said, “thankfully. My Father wasn’t pleased when they didn’t give a reason. I was thankful, however.”

“Well,” Malcolm started and Robin stared at him as he met her gaze, “it wouldn’t have been fair to marry you,” he turned towards Weiss, “when I was already head over heels for somebody else.”

“Awww,” Yang said, “that’s so romantic.”

“Do we know her?” Ruby said. “Or is it a him?”

“Wait,” Tawney said, pointing to Ruby and Yang, “you don’t know?”

Yahto slapped his hands on top of Tawney’s shoulders and stage whispered, “They don’t know. Really?” he turned to face Robin, “You didn’t say anything?”

“Wait,” Yang said, “are you saying-”

“Her?” Weiss said, gesturing at Robin.

“Problem?” Tawney mocked.

“Does Qrow know?” Yang said. “Does Dad?”

Robin rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the blush in her cheeks, “No and no. Speak a word of this to them before I do and I’ll murder you in your sleep.” She looked down at her scroll and opened the new message from her Dad, earning a small frown on her face, “Are we going to play games or not?”

 _I’m worried about you_ , Qrow’s message started, _Tai’s told me everything, nightmares, mission scars, my favourite bottle. You really want to talk? I’ll be in Vale in six days. We’ll talk then._


	38. Chapter 35

Qrow couldn’t help the small frown as her stared at his recent conversation with Robin. When he’d received numerous messages from Tai that Robin hadn’t been sleeping when she was in Patch, that she had a few scars and that she’d had nightmares, he’d worried and had come to a stand still on what to do. How could he help somebody with their dreams or their semblance? He couldn’t control his own and now Robin couldn’t control hers. He’d told Ozpin about her semblance in hopes that maybe he could help her out with it or understand it a little better for everybody’s sanity, more than Qrow ever could.

He put his scroll away with a sigh and grabbed the cup of coffee in front of him. Robin had suggested the small cafe on the edge of town, which thankfully had a very quiet upstairs where he was currently sat. He drummed his fingers on the table top and he stopped when he finally spotted his daughter and he couldn’t help his warm smile as he stood up, a welcome sight to the ass end of places he’d been forced to visit lately on his recent missions. “Come here,” he said, opening his arms up and meeting her for a hug.

“Hey, Dad,” she mumbled into his chest, matching his hug with a small sigh.

“That’s not a good start,” he said as he pulled away, glancing down at her with a raised brow. Robin briefly met his gaze before she offered him a tight smile and stepped back to sit down at his table. Qrow took his seat next to her as he watched her open and close her mouth several times before he held his hands up and interrupted whatever thoughts were going through her mind. “Robin, take a breath.” He watched her sit up and take a deep breath, letting it slowly out with a drop of her shoulders and he smiled, trying to hide how much it hurt him to see her this lost. He took a breath himself and grabbed his cup to take another swig, his eyes darting to the spot on her head where Tai had told him her scar was and yep, it stood out to him now that he knew it was there. It peaked out from underneath her hair above her right eye, barely noticeable until you knew it was there. Qrow reached over and brushed the hair away from her face, letting her know what he was looking at he sighed, “What happened?”

Robin’s red eyes flicked up to his hand before she shrugged a shoulder, “We were on a search and rescue and we split up to cover more ground. Me and Tawney into a cave-”

“She’s the Faunus right?”

Robin nodded her head, “Cat tail. Malcolm and Yahto took the mountain path route. We were pretty far in, almost pitch black and we hear something behind us. When I turn round I’m watching Brian, our lead, get thrown across the side of the cave, so, I pushed him out of the way, got caught myself and flung against the wall. I think I was hit against the other wall before whatever the _thing_ was threw me down the cave. Bashed my head a few times on the rocks. Broke my arm and almost a leg too.”

Qrow stared at her for a moment before he pinched his eyes shut and turned his head to look away. “Please,” he whispered, “just, just let me know, the next time anything happens. Anything, okay?” She looked up at him with shame and he reached out to wrap an arm around her shoulders, tugging her against his side and he pressed a kiss to her temple, “No matter what it is, let me know.”

“Okay,” she whispered, and she slowly pried herself free to stare up at him, “can you let me know why you told Ozpin about my Semblance?”

“When did he finally speak to you about it?”

“That day I messaged you.”

He pursed his lips and nodded his head. “Most semblances can be controlled, utilised to their full potential by their user. It’s rare to find a semblance that can’t be controlled, rarer still to be able to stay sane with something that is out of your hands. Out of all of the places I’ve travelled to, all of the people I’ve met, the stories I’ve heard, not one person has had something similar to yours.” He let out a small scoff and held a hand up, “I’ve heard of people phasing through chairs, duplicating items, I even heard tale of somebody able to alter a person’s centre of gravity, but nothing like foresight or the ability to see some glimpse of the future.”

Qrow let out a breath, his smile dropping as he looked away from her, “At first I put your dreams down to living in Vacuo, Huntsmen passing through and bringing stories with them. Then there was your Mom, Summer and-” he stopped to clamp his mouth shut, feeling Robin’s eyes fixed on him before he flicked his attention to her, “-that day you called me, panicked cause Yang had taken Ruby into the forest with her, and you begged me to save them. They weren’t just dreams but I’d hoped that they would stay that way. At least you might be able to forget about them or push them to one side, but then it started happening through the day.”

“Still happening,” she muttered.

Qrow grinned with a small huff, “Yeah, and when you told me that, I spoke to Oz. I didn’t know how I was supposed to help you, if I even _could_ help you. When people learnt about my semblance, that it was nothing but bad luck, they didn’t want me around and Oz was one of the only few people who put their trust in me, gave me _hope_ if you will that I wasn’t a lost cause. I didn’t want the same thing that happened to me to happen to you. I didn’t want you feeling lost or out of place, because of something you couldn’t control.”

He let out a breath and finished off his coffee, “I didn’t know what to do and Oz, he’s been around, knows things. I figured if anybody could help _you_ to understand it or learn to use it, it would be him.”

When he finally looked back up at Robin she stared at him with something akin to hurt, mournful and troubled. Her lips were parted and after a few moments she blinked and glanced away, ducking her head with a small furrow. “I get the why,” she muttered, “I don’t hate you for it. But I don’t want to be somebody’s personal crystal ball.”

Now Qrow frowned, “What are you-”

She scoffed, “He wants me to tell him anything I learn about Salem, the Maidens, Spring, yada yada.”

There was silence for two minutes before Qrow said, “He told you about all that.”

“Yeah, and I don’t know if I believe him entirely.”

“What reason would he have for lying?”

She snapped her head up to meet his gaze, “The same reason Raven had for leaving.” More silence and she sat back in her seat, arms folded. “As far as Ozpin told me, Salem can be killed. But according to Raven, she can’t.”

Qrow narrowed his eyes. His sister and he didn’t see eye to eye, but the last thing he would ever want is Raven working her way underneath Robin’s skin. There was a line and abandoning your family, no matter the circumstance, for a bunch of murderers and thieves was almost unforgivable. This… “When did you speak to her?”

“On our last mission, an escort mission for a village that had been ravaged by b _andits_ and Grimm. Three guesses whose tribe the bandits belonged to?” Qrow clamped his mouth shut and he stared off with his daughter before she said, “How the hell did she end up leading a bunch of bandits?”

He pursed his lips and stared down at his hands on the table. After a moment he let out a heavy sigh and shook his head, “Me and Raven, we didn’t grow up in a village or a town. We didn’t have parents with respectable jobs and honest earnings. We were brought up in a bandit camp, raised by bandits. That’s why she ran back to them.”

“I never knew,” she mumbled and Qrow finally looked back up at her. That was something not many people knew and something he’d always kept close to his chest. People tended to look at you another way when you told them that kind of information and Robin only looked at him with a soft expression. She shrugged and her lips twitched into a small smile, “At least Tai’s comment of retraining you and Raven makes more sense now.”

Qrow couldn’t stop his own smile and a little chuckle escaped him. “And he wonders why I try to make his life hell for him.”

Robin grabbed his hand and he looked down to watch her squeeze his fingers, his eyes glancing towards the matching wristband that she wore. It warmed his heart that she still wore it and he squeezed her hand back. “I don’t think any less of you,” Robin mumbled, “Just pissed off that I don’t know what to think, that Ozpin wants to use me for my semblance-”

Qrow’s smile faltered slightly, “That’s not-”

She held her other hand up, “Kind of is. And the fact that he asks _you_ to go on all of these ‘missions’ for him, it’s a good job I’m not the clingy type. Just saying.” She let out a breath and let her head rest on his shoulder, her hands wrapped around his arm. “Whilst we’re,” Robin started, drifting off on her words and pausing, “being honest and open…. You should probably meet my team. You know, before school ends and cause Tawney wants us to live together… And because we’re all close and…”

Qrow raised his brows and ruffled her hair, “And what?”

“And I erm… well… I may or may not have a er- boyfriend.”

Qrow froze. Boyfriend? _Boyfriend? Boy. Friend._ “Which one?”

He could feel her hesitate as she mumbled against him, “Malcolm.”

He tried to remember which one was Malcolm. Something itched at him that it was the blonde one on her team, their leader, and he gave Robin a few more seconds of silence before he said, “He’s the blonde leader right?”

“Yep?”

“When do I get to meet him?”

Robin moved, lifting her head to stare at him and he stared back, his glare unconsciously stuck to his face. She sagged and thumped her head against his arm, “Please don’t murder him.”

“I didn’t say anything about murdering him.”

She finally let go of his arm to lean back in her chair, “I can see you thinking about it. Stop.”

He shook his head and picked his cup up, forgetting for a moment that it was empty and he put it back down with a sigh, “Not til I meet him.”

Robin put her arms on the table and thumbed her head onto her arms, “This was why I didn’t want to tell you.”

“Tomorrow any good?”

“Fine, murder him tomorrow. Whatever,” she mumbled.

Qrow grinned and ruffled her hair, glad that they had this chat, “He’ll be alive after we’re done.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, hopefully that's cleared things up a little between Robin and Qrow. Everybody, say your prayers for Malcolm and sorry this chapter's a day late. Weekend was hectic!!


	39. Chapter 36

Robin glared at her Dad as he stared down Malcolm. Malcolm had been enthusiastic when Robin had mentioned that Qrow wanted to meet him and they’d arrived first so that Robin could at least get a nice piece of cake in before it all went downhill. The one piece of advice she’d given Maclolm was, ‘Feel free to be a dick to him.’ She’d spotted him first, nudging Malcolm as she finished her mouthful of cake and nodded to him. Malcolm stood up, extending a hand with a pleasant smile and, “Mr Branwen, it’s nice to meet you.”

Which had led them to where they were now, Qrow with narrowed eyes at Malcolm who kept his hand extended with a wavering smile. Robin rolled her eyes and tugged his arm down. “You’re such a child,” she grumbled, kicking out the chair opposite of them for her Dad to sit down.

Qrow took a seat, arms folded and leaning back in his chair, a frown still etched onto his face. Malcolm cleared his throat and gestured to the small service bar, “Drink? Cake?”

He quirked one brow and glanced in the general direction before he said, “Coffee.”

“I’ll be right back,” Malcolm said, giving Robin’s hand a small squeeze as he stood up and left.

Once he was out of earshot Robin kicked her Dad’s leg underneath the table, earning a yelp from him. “Can you be civil for one hour?”

Qrow glared at her and glanced back over to Malcolm, one hand reaching underneath the table to rub at his leg, “Where’s he even from?”

“Atlas.”

Qrow’s brows shot up and he froze, slowly sitting back up. “Atlas? The hell’s he doing here then?”

Robin rolled her eyes and stabbed a fork at the last bite of cake in front of her, “Who cares. I’m just glad Tai’s not here as well.”

He chuckled at that comment, “Oh he wanted to be here. Sadly he had to teach.”

“I hate you both,” she grumbled, spearing the cake into her mouth with a frown.

Malcolm came back at that point, setting a mug of black coffee and small jug of milk in front of Qrow, “I wasn’t sure how you took it.”

Qrow waved him away, “Black’s fine, _Malcolm_.” He leaned forward, setting both arms onto the table, all smiles gone from his face. “Atlas?”

Malcolm nodded his head, “That’s where I’m from. I chose to study at Beacon to make a name that wasn’t in the shadow of my father.”

Qrow turned one hand in the air, “Who is?”

“General Adham.”

Qrow blinked three times before he tilted his head to look at Robin, “Adham. _Adham_. You-” he stopped and took a breath. After a moment he gestured to Malcolm and said to Robin, “What do you see in this guy?”

She kicked him underneath the table again, making Qrow bang his knee on the table. “Stop being a dick,” she mumbled.

Malcolm’s eyes widened and he grabbed Robin’s arm, tugging her back a little, “It’s- it’s fine, I thought there might some hostility today-”

Qrow’s eyes landed back on Malcolm and he pointed at him, “You want hostility? I can give you hostility.”

“Dad,” Robin whined, kicking him again. “ _Stop. It.”_

He stared off with Malcolm for five seconds before he scoffed and leaned back in his seat, arms firmly fixed across his chest. “I don’t like you,” Qrow started, “if you even _think_ of hurting her, nobody will find you.”

Robin slapped her head into her hand and groaned. “I hate you. I hate you,” she mumbled.

“And,” Qrow carried on, “if I even get a whiff that you two have had your clothes off together, I’ll murder _both_ of you.”

“Dad!” she almost shouted, face turning bright red. Malcolm’s hand slipped from her arm and she felt his embarrassment light up the entire room. “What is _wrong_ with you?”

He shrugged, sipping on his coffee, “I enjoy your suffering.”

Robin let her head fall onto the table, “I wish Tai was here instead.”

“He’d be saying the same things.”

* * *

Robin refused to look at Malcolm as they left the cafe, her Dad glaring them down as they left. They were silent for several minutes as they walked through Vale, almost a foot of distance between them before Malcolm grabbed her hand and forced their fingers to interlace. “Your Dad’s something,” he mumbled.

She glanced away and kicked at a stone on the sidewalk, “I’m going to murder him the next time I see him.”

Malcolm chuckled and tugged her next to his side so that their shoulders bumped as they walked, “He’s not too bad.” Robin snapped her head up to glare at Malcolm. He lifted his free hand up with a grin, “I expected something like that. He’s only got you and probably never imagined you having a boyfriend.”

She dropped her glare into a frown and shrugged her shoulder, “Doesn’t excuse him.” They dropped into a comfortable silence again until Robin broke it two minutes later, “Are your parents any better?”

Malcolm squeezed her fingers gently, “Everyone’s parent is embarrassing. If anything my Mom might try to show you some of my baby pictures. My Dad… well… he was kinda looking forward to me marrying Weiss.”

“For the Schnee name or the company?”

Malcolm sighed and Robin could feel the tenseness in his shoulders just by the way he stopped walking and narrowed his eyes at the floor. “The Schnee family has been friends with mine for years, it’s… he-”

Robin tugged him forward a step and pecked his cheek, pulling back with a soft smile, “I get the picture.” She pulled on his hand to make them start walking again and nudged her hip against his, “As much as I hate to ask, when am I meeting your folks?”

“Term break, if-”

“I’m up for it,” she grinned, wrapping an arm around his, “come on, let me buy you that pie you like as an apology for my Dad.”

Malcolm’s face reddened at her words and he swallowed thickly, “You only ever buy me that when-”

She purred, running a hand up his chest, “I know.”

“But you’re Dad-”

“Pfft,” she tugged him across the road and in the direction of the bakery, “I only listen to him when I want to.”

* * *

“So he’s not dead,” Ruby said, tongue stuck out the side of her mouth as she mashed at the buttons on her scroll.

Robin shook her head, a frown on her face as she concentrated on kicking her cousin’s butt in their favourite video game. “Not yet. There’s still time for tha- Yes!” KO appeared on screen and Robin turned with a triumphant grin towards Ruby. The silver eyed girl slumped her shoulders and stared quietly at the screen, none of the bitterness Robin expected in her face. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Ruby looked down then, avoiding eye contact and she shrugged her shoulders, “Do you- do you think I’m capable of being a leader?”

Robin quirked one brow and looked over her youngest cousin with worry. Ruby almost never doubted herself, at least not enough to ruin her mood like this. “Why wouldn’t you be?” Ruby looked up, worry etched onto her face and Robin waved Ruby’s waiting words away. “Ruby Rose, you have one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen. You care for everyone around you, you want the best for people and whilst you’ve not seen friends as a priority, you became a Huntress to help people. You don’t care about fame or glory, you care about people, helping them in anyway you can. You’ve been bettering yourself for years to do just that, which is what a Leader does.”

Ruby sniffled and Robin wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “What about you?”

“Me?”

Ruby nodded her head and couldn’t meet her gaze as she said, “You care so much for us. You’ve looked after me and Yang so much and your team have told us of the things you’ve done, just to protect them.”

Robin grinned and poked Ruby’s chest, “Yeah but I’m a terrible influence and I couldn’t give a crap for rules.” She let go of her and nudged their shoulders together, “Come on, let’s have a few more rounds before my team gets back and Tawney pounces on you.”

* * *

Robin snagged Yang as her class left Ooblecks and she linked arms with her and steered her away to one of the quieter corridors. “Sooo, how’s Beacon?”

“It’s amazing,” the Blonde said, “but that’s not what you really wanted is it?”

Robin grinned and stopped walking, “I want you to promise me that you two will look after each other.” Yang’s smile twisted into confusion as she tilted her head to one side. Robin let out a breath and did her best to not sigh. Her dreams had started to come back and there had been a few where Ruby was getting beaten up or Yang was passed out in a burning building. There was even one dream where she was certain Tawney was being thrown across a field, blood covering her face and arms. “You have my number and I’ll always come to you guys no matter what, but I also know that I can’t always be there.”   
  
“Robin-”

“Hmm?”

“What’s going on?”

She sighed then and tried to fix a grin onto her face. “We’re away on a two week mission in the ass end of Vacuo. And it’s an extra week for travel time. I don’t think I’ve been away from you guys that long when you’ve got missions coming up like you’ve never been on before. Just, watch each other’s backs okay?”

Yang chuckled and waved a hand at her, “I’ll always look after Ruby, you know that.”

Robin grinned. When she blinked there was a sight over Yang’s shoulder of a burning building with Grimm surrounding every inch of it, staring in at her. She did her best to keep her smile and nodded her head, “I know, but I like keeping an eye on you two as well. Stay out of trouble for me will you?”

“Now that I can’t guarantee.”

Robin chuckled and ruffled Yang’s hair, “I’m already a terrible influence.”

* * *

Robin bolted up, chest heaving and mind rattling with the dreams she’d just had. A village infested with more Grimm than she’d in the past year, dead bodies everywhere, fire and blood. She hung her head in her hands and tried to scrub the images away. They were going to Vacuo for some kind of pest control mission, and it just had to be the part of Vacuo she was from. Her village was only a mile out from where they were headed and she had to wonder if that was why her nightmares were coming back.

The arm around her waist tightened and the bed dipped as Malcolm sat up, naked chest pressing against her side as he kissed her bare shoulder, “Deep breaths, Robin, deep breaths,” he whispered against her skin. A few quiet minutes later and Robin lifted her knees up to her chest and let herself lean against Malcolm. He was sat up now, his arms wrapped around her, one hand soothing her arm with small strokes. “It’s been a while since the last time. You want to talk about it?”

She shrugged a shoulder and let her head rest underneath his chin. “I just have a bad feeling about this mission.”

“We can swap. I’m sure Ozpin and everyone will understand.”

She shook her head, “No- I- I don’t know. Maybe it’s just cause of _where_ we’re going?” To his hum she let out a breath and mumbled, “It’s a mile from my village, from where- Maybe it’s just my mind acting up from that.”

He hummed again and kissed her shoulders, “Just say the word and we’ll switch, okay?”

Again she shook her head and straightened up away from him, “And risk somebody going in blind?”

Malcolm let out a huff and shook his head, “Sadly that’s why I like you. You’d rather face this yourself then let somebody else suffer.” He tugged her back down onto the bed with him, pulling her flush against his bare chest. “Sleep on it and let me know in the morning.”

Robin let out a breath and nodded her head, “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the lack of a chapter last week. I was busy all weekend and had no time after work either to get much done. (Why must we be adults)


	40. Chapter 37

Robin drummed her fingers on her thighs, tapped her thumbs twice and drummed her fingers again, repeating the pattern as she listened to the hum of the aorship they were in. She sat, head leaning back against the cool metal hull and her eyes closed. They were supposed to land within the next fifteen minutes and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous. Her nightmare from last night was stuck in her head, the first nightmare she’d had in months, and it replayed itself every few minutes in her mind, reminding her that her semblance was just some kind of sick joke.

_Drum. Tap. Drum. Tap. Drum. Tap._

The ship gave a familiar tug-jerk to signal that it had finally landed and Robin cracked her eyes open. A pair of amber eyes peered at her, surrounded by green hair and she couldn’t help the small grin as she lifted a hand to push Tawney’s face away from her. “Why?”

“I was making sure you were awake.”

Robin rolled her eyes and stood up, stretching her arms above her head. Malcolm had informed Yahto and Tawney of the nightmare she’d had, once she’d explained it to him, and they’d almost insisted on changing their mission. It had been the real first argument they’d had as a team and the first real time Tawney had stopped talking to Robin. With a small hum and stepped over to the open door and glanced at Tawney. “We’re good right?” she whispered.

Tawney wrapped an arm around Robin’s shoulders and tugged her against her side, “As long as you tell us about the first sign of danger, we’re all good. Anything, you hear me?”

She nodded her head. “The first instance, I tell you and we’re out of there.”

Tawney pinched her cheek and cooed, “Aww, she’s learning! It’s a miracle!”

“I sha’ ‘e ack.” ( _I take it back)_

“Okay,” Malcolm said, putting his hands on both of their shoulders and pushing them apart, “That’s enough. Do we remember why we’re here?”

“Pest control,” Yahto said, pickaxe hanging over his shoulder as he jumped onto the ground beneath them. “There’s been a recent increase in Grimm presence in the area and they need it to be taken care of.” He turned to face the three of them with a wide grin on his face and thumbed a hand over his shoulder, “You guys going to hurry up?”

Tawney stuck her tongue out and jumped onto the ground next to him. Robin glanced at Malcolm and climbed down herself, hearing Malcolm’s feet land next to her and his hand touched her shoulder. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“I’m fine,” she mumbled, “I’m not made of glass. I’m not a dainty princess. Being a Huntsman comes with risks and we all know that.” She looked up towards the path that led from the field the airship was parked in and hauled her bag over her shoulder. The pilot gave them a small wave from his position in the cockpit and she followed the line of the path as it passed underneath the airship and towards the other side of the clearing. With a raised brow she looked up, looked left, right and turned in a circle. A fallen, moss covered log caught her attention, propped up next to a tree stump, and she froze, remembering exactly where they were.

Her mother had brought her here once for a picnic on one of the days she’d refused to open _Oasis._ It had taken three year old Robin thirty minutes to make the fifteen minute walk, dodging through trees, over flower beds and underneath the low hanging branches. It had been a hot Spring day and she remembered the countless flowers that had blossomed around the clearing, making it a real Oasis in the vast deserts of Vacuo. _“It’s a rule that places like these are protected,” Leona had told her. “They’re so few and far between and tell the story of Vacuo before the great war and before the Grimm. A paradise on our very own back step.”_

“ _Pwetty.”_

_L_ _eona chuckled, booping her nose with a finger. “Just like you.”_

“ _Nooo- Mommy pwetty!”_

“Robin?” She hummed and glanced over to Malcolm. “You su-”

“I’m fine.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the path they were supposed to be following. “Just remembering something.”

 

* * *

Night came around a lot sooner than expected and all four members of team Myrtle took a seat outside of the village’s inn. They were with three Huntsmen who were currently covering the perimeter and eradicating any Grimm that got too close whilst they took a break. “So many,” Tawney mumbled as she swung her morning star into the floor, letting the handle stand to attention. “I know they said there would be a lot of Grimm but this is insane.”

Yahto hummed around a mouthful of reheated stew, “’S Vacuo. Whole place is insane.”

“At least there’s no sandstorms coming through,” Robin mumbled, “they’re the real bitches of this place.”

Malcolm scrubbed his face as he let a yawn escape him. “At least there’s three Huntsmen,” he said. “Which means we have backup and can recharge ourselves.”

“Yeah,” Tawney said, “but it’s kind of worrying with how many Grimm there are.”

“ _Myrtle, if you’re done taking five minutes. Help is needed along the East and South.”_

All four of them groaned at the command that came over their scrolls. Robin stood up and handed her bowl to Yahto, “I’ve got the East.”

“South,” Malcolm said. “You two rest up a little more. If it’s any worse we’ll call you in.”

Tawney hummed around a mouthful of stew, “s’fine by me.”

Malcolm spoke into his scroll, “Me and Robin will cover the South and East, respectively. Yahto and Tawney will rest a little longer and we’ll call them in emergency.”

There was a pause before the Huntsman on the other end of the line said, _“Got it._ _Call backup without hesitation if you need it. This isn’t a time for heroics.”_ Robin waved her hand at him and grabbed her baton, extending it to it’s full staff form with sickles extended on each end and balanced it over her shoulder as she walked to the East side of the small village with a rush in her steps.

There was the sound of heavy thudding and when Robin turned the corner she spotted the familiar stinger of a Death Stalker. “Crap,” she mumbled, taking a firm hold of her weapon and setting out into a sprint. She hopped the craggy wall that made for a terrible excuse for a border and swung her staff down, letting it hang by her side as it laid against her arm as she ran. The Death Stalker turned, pincers snapping in the air.

The ground shook and she froze, stumbling and she stuck one of the sickles into the ground to try to give herself some stability. The ground jerked and she cursed as a stinger appeared in front of her and the familiar sound of pincers sounded behind her. She tugged her staff free and held her arms out to her sides as she steadied herself and held her weapon up. The stinger came at her and she lifted and turned, shoving it to one side. She set one foot behind her and pushed herself forward towards the tail. She dragged one of the sickles down the side of the Death Stalker and grinned when she caught flesh underneath the shell. The Death Stalker reacted, its body bucking up and throwing her off balance. She gripped onto her staff with both hands and let her body swing down with the motion, throwing herself onto the floor. Robin pressed a button and detracted the sickles, letting herself land on the floor, feet first so that she could roll back up into a standing position.

The first Death Stalker was in front of her, pincers coming down to swipe at her and Robin jumped, staff coming down onto one of the pincers to give her extra leverage to boost herself over them. She extended the sickles as she slid over the bone on its skull and brought her sickle down across the joint that connected to one of the pincers. Her momentum dragged her down, leaving a large enough gash to hinder its use. The legs stomped furiously around her and she twisted and turned, swinging her staff out to catch the legs and sever them. She rolled underneath its body as it slumped to one side, good pincer still trying to get her and stinger coming down blindly at her.

The second Death Stalker barrelled into the first and knocked it against her, sending her tumbling across the ground. She groaned as she slowly stood back up, head spinning slightly. Once the world was the right way round she looked up and her face fell. The Death Stalker came at her, dug a pincer into the ground by her feet and burrowed forward. It caught her in the uplift and she swung her staff down to sink one of the sickles into the back of its head, just behind the bone that protected its face. It caught onto something just enough that when it lifted its pincer up she was thrown from side to side, hands gripping onto her staff. She swung, trying to get a grip of her feet onto the Death Stalker. It took her a few tries before she managed to get a grip with her feet and push herself forward, rolling across its back and onto the ground again.

She ran, patting her pockets blindly for her scroll until she found the lump and tugged it from her pocket. The ground was shifted from underneath her feet again and her scroll fell from her hands. “Crap,” she mumbled, jumping to one side as the pincer pushed up and dislodged the ground where she’d been standing.

When she looked back up the Death Stalker turned, knocking the first one further away, and turned to face her. It started towards her and she ran towards it. She stuck one of the sickles into the ground and threw herself forward. She lifted her legs to avoid the pincers, pressed a button to disassemble her weapon into two and she pulled the grounded half out to throw her arms forward and latch onto the back of the Death Stalker’s neck. Both sickles were firmly planted and she twisted them, using her feet to give herself better leverage to slice through the Death Stalker’s neck and finally finish it off.

As it disintegrated into black smoke she sighed and let out a breath. When she looked back up she scouted the ground for her scroll and groaned at the cracked glint it let off under the moonlight. Robin groaned as she picked it up and tried to get it to work. “Great,” she murmured and she pocketed it. Maybe she’d be able to get it fixed at some point. Robin looked around her, wondering if there were any more Grimm and she let herself relax a little. There was nothing in the vicinity and she propped her staff over her shoulder again as she started a slow walk.

There were a series of screams from the direction of the village and she froze. This was not happening again. Her dreams were not… Robin ran, making her legs work as fast as they could to get her back into the village and across it. She was not going to let her dreams come true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updating this. Things have been hectic in my personal life.


End file.
